AHU DURAL
Opening WED, SEP 11, 2024, 6pm—9pm
Open by appointment until OCT 19, 2024
LAGE EGAL [IN THE RACK ROOM]
Liselotte-Herrmann-Str. 26 (HH)
10407 Berlin–Prenzlauer Berg
Contact: sarienijboer@gmail.com
A geometric aluminium sculpture, shaped as a frame, becomes an architectural element in the exhibition space. It is based on the symmetrical aesthetics of the modernist buildings of Siemensstadt, a Siemens factory housing estate in the east of Berlin-Spandau, the place where artist AHU DURAL grew up. Her mother moved from Turkey to Germany and started working at Siemens in 1980 at the age of 17 as an assembler of printed circuit boards in the Wernerwerk XV building. In her work, Dural takes her mother and her personal memories as a starting point to create objects and materials closely linked to forms and elements of the settlement architecture and playgrounds.
The exhibition Beautiful Collars here at IN THE RACK ROOM can be seen as a continuation of her artistic exploration of childhood memories using furniture objects and sculptures as a means of aesthetically translating these memories into new forms and functions.
The aluminium sculpture recites the shapes of the window elements of the Wernerwerk XV building, which Dural has freely interpreted and transformed. The aluminium welds, also offer an abstract and geometric reference to the clothing worn by her mother and colleagues in that period. The title of the exhibition, DBeautiful Collars, thereby becomes a reference to the collars associated with the clothes her mother and colleagues wore at work, while at the same time offering a connection to architectural elements so reminiscent of the artist’s upbringing.
In Dural’s works, architecture and design are not merely structural or decorative, but can be seen as narrative tools that reflect on the multifaceted layers and interconnections of childhood and collective memory. In this, she plays with scale, colour and abstraction, bringing together the perspective of a child with that of an adult. With her mother having been a guest worker from Turkey, the work is in a way also a reflection on German social and economic history and its connection to migration. Consequently, Dural’s biographical exploration of space, form and identity results in a dialogue between the personal and the political, in which her sculptures and installations become architectures of introspection, offering a reflection on perception.
By weaving together biography, social and economic history, architecture and design, the artist enables us, the viewer, to reflect on our own upbringing and the surrounding elements that are part of it. Beautiful Collars, in that sense is an exploration into the interplay between individual and collective memory, highlighting how personal histories are embedded within broader socio-economic and cultural contexts.
The work of German-Turkish artist Ahu Dural (Berlin *1984) often revolves around the repositioning and reinterpretation of biographical history and biographical architecture. The fusion of these two components – especially in sculpture and installation – forms the basis for her intensive exploration of the relationship between body, object and memory.
Dural’s large-scale installations, as well as her graphical approach to spaces and surfaces are part of her multi-layered practice. She also explores the connections between art history, design, gender theories and identity politics. Dural, who lived in Berlin-Siemensstadt for 20 years, tries to connect the history and architecture of the places of her childhood with concepts of interior designers such as Eileen Grey, Charlotte Perriand, Janette Laverrière or artists such as Louise Bourgeois. After completing her studies in Illustrative Drawing at the Berlin University of the Arts, Dural expanded her artistic research in Vienna, where she studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts with contemporary artist Monica Bonvicini.
She has won several awards, stipends and funds such as Goldrausch Stipend 2021, work stipend Berlin Senate 2022, contemporary history and remembrance culture fund, Berlin Senate 2023, work stipend Stiftung Kunstfonds 2024, publication fund Kulturwerk VG Bild 2024, Gustav-Peichl-Price for Architectural Drawing (back in 2016) and Best Austrian Animation Festival Price (back in 2014). Her recent shows include Gigs at Kunstraum Kreuzberg in 2024, [intimacy] – Von Menschen und Orten at DA Kunsthaus Kloster Gravenhorst, Kreis Steinfurt, DE in 2024, Realities Left Vacant at n.b.k. Berlin in 2023. Upcoming shows: Galerie Laetitia Gorsky, Spinnerei Leipzig, DE in 11/2024, Galerie Parterre Berlin in 04/2025, Family Affairs at Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig, DE in 06/2025 and a sculpture project in Sweden Summer/2025. Since 2020 Dural regularly offers tours through Siemensstadt. She lives and works in Berlin.
