Family Matters:
Conversations about Old Spirits, the Question of Belonging, and Complementary Spaces

SAVVY Contemporary is pleased to invite you to the Berlin book launch of the publication Family Matters: Conversations about Old Spirits, the Question of Belonging, and Complementary Spaces by artist Viron Erol Vert, currently part of our exhibition 4+3=1 .THERE ARE STORIES TO BE FORGED FOR COMMON DENOMINATORS TO COME FORTH AND SOCIAL BALANCE TO BE RESTORED. The publication documents the cross-section of his works that have been created between the metropolises of Berlin, Istanbul, and Athens. 

Shaped by the condition and atmosphere of being in-between, Vert's artistic practice interweaves points of connection and friction between different cultures, materials, languages, forms of expression and ways of seeing to create a hybrid vision towards the possibilities of identity. By finding intersecting points among these varied realities, the book reflects on cultural layers in their multiplicities: where moments of encounter and lines of friction, crisscrossing timelines, and differing views on history meet. The book interrogates notions of oppositional thinking, complementary ways and forms of living, and deals with internalized and institutionalized racism – with an aim to unfold dialogues between and among the present, past, and future. It is a tribute to the trio of cities Viron has been deeply embedded in, considering these urban centers and the stories of their inhabitants across gender, politics, cultures, socializations, and historical backgrounds.

Through a plurality of mediums moving from immersive installations, sculptures, and visual works, Viron Erol Vert questions the constructions of identity in relation to hegemonic knowledge production. Vert's personal multicultural background and family history merge and morph in Family Matters, where the book combines in three comprehensive chapters questions about intersections of ancestry and socialization in diverse urban-cultures with queer lifestyles and subcultural contexts such as in Berlin's club scene, and more.

This Berlin launch will host you in an intimate setting taking place within Viron’s carpet-installation "Sorry, but are you Turkish? /Afedersiniz, Türk müsünüz?". The conversation will trace the development and paths of the book together with Viron Erol Vert and book contributors Jonas Tinius, Adnan Yıldız, Çağla Ilk, alongside SAVVY Contemporary’s Elena Agudio and Kelly Krugman. We will be oined by artist and musician Anton Kats, who will carry us along sonic spheres in between the conversations, finishing the night with a modular synth set as an homage to the evening. Didem Yazıcı, one of the publication’s editors, cannot be with us that night and will join us in spirit.

Drinks and snacks will be offered.