Vısual Archive of the Gezi Park Protests

This work is a selection of diverse visual material from the archive compiled during and after the 2013 mass movement in Turkey known as the “Gezi protests”. (The whole archive consists of more than 10.000 images and videos.)

The main objective of the selection is to present the creative methods of the protests, e.g. the “Standing Man”, the garbage collecting action, the “Rainbow Steps” and the “Earth Table”, accompanied by statistical information on the course of the protests and their participants.

All contributions are from social networks. Their authors could not always be reliably ascertained. It is possible that professional works or media from press sources are among them. In cases in which the authors of the media are known, the names are indicated. Links to the websites containing exemplarily selected media are also specified.

Due to the criminal trials after the Gezi protests, I assume that the photographers and/or the depicted persons do not want their identities to be revealed. Almost none of the links I stored at the time are still up-to-date today. We can thus draw the conclusion that, as a response, the attempt was made to keep secret or conceal the identities.

We have no intention of benefiting from the authors and the media. Instead, we want to present their work and the peaceful and creative course of the protests in which they participated.

As an artistic compilation, this “Archive of the Gezi Park Protests” does not place itself above the used materials and works. I have collected the media from anonymous sources as an “Internet street photographer” taking screen shots and I present them in my own configuration. This artistic documentation is to be understood as cultural work pursuing neither financial nor commercial interests.

Persons who would like to have their works or media, in which they can be seen, removed from the selection should please contact the exhibition organisers. A correction will then be made as quickly as possible.