They burned it all
Two-channel video installation, 4‘ 17“ and 8‘ 47“ Project realised with the support of Italian Council (2022)
They burned it all is based on Bucak’s fieldwork in several of the Mediterranean 2021 wildfire sites. This video installation brings together two performances: the first enacted by the artist herself in a charred forest landscape and the second per- formed by five pairs of singers in a municipal theatre in Istanbul. The synchronous videos point to the essential role of listening and speaking in healing. As the artist carefully crawls along the blackened terrain, she listens intently into the earth, now devoid of life. This endless loop of her journey is interjected by a singer who cannot make an utterance. At the same time, the singer, along with the other nine members of her choir, prepare for a performance, yet as it begins, they are motionless on stage, staring ahead with total concentration as though suspended in time. Although they are unable to sing
it themselves, they hear their song. It interprets the phrase “they burned it all” into a lament. However, they sing each letter alone in a broken sentence in Kurdish–a language not heard in most theatres in Turkey. And so we hear “Her tişt şewitandin,” letter by letter.
Photo by Anja Schneider
