Mehmet Güleryüz

Latest works on display in Istanbul, at "Bashibazouk Volume IV: "Nothing Human is Alien to me"

The Empire Project is proud to announce a new collaboration with Ekavart, with a new edition of "Bashibazouk" series, the 4th, a group show that showcases new works from its established artists as well as highlights new talents. Among the featured artist will be new and unseen works from Mehmet Güleryüz, Can Pekdemir, Emin Altan and Çınar Eslek.

In this latest installment of the Bashibazouk series “Nothing Human is Alien to me"; the series title is a borrowed quote from Terence's most brilliant play "The Self-Tormentor" written in 165 B.C. This quote that latter in the 16th century adorned the beam of Montaigne's study is the key to opening the door of this collection of work. It is impartially to the nature of how we treat each other as well as our impact on our environment both physical as well as intellectual. It doesn't take a position, it doesn't preach, but there is world-weary energy to it, underlining that this human condition from which we are all suffering will continue until we are no more.

“Bashibazouk” takes its title from the term describing an alternative recruitment form of irregular soldiers in the Ottoman army that functioned as scouts in a war to destabilize the opposing army until the 19th century when they were disbanded for their disruptive behavior. In an attempt to re-visit the concept as a satire of the human condition in contemporary culture, the artists in the series were selected due to the un-submissive, exploratory, and risk-taking nature of their works.