ALL THE STARS ARE ALIGNED
An evening with Aykan Safoğlu, from an essay film to an essay
Thu 6 November, 6 p.m.

Part of the series Longshot. Räume der Vielsprachigkeit | Spaces of Multilingualism.

Public talks and lectures on artistic research – presented by the Academy of Media Arts (Art History with an Expanded Concept of Material), the University of Cologne (Laboratory for Art & Research), the Society for Artistic Research in Germany (gfkd), and Temporary Gallery, Cologne.

“Spaces of multilingualism” unfold in overlaps of the spoken, written, heard, and read. In two guest lectures, we will focus on multilingual oral and written transmissions, with translations, recordings, and embodiments of various languages of art and literature. These create gateways that challenge the supposed singularity of a language by not only fanning out concepts, but also what they seek to convey. This gives rise to unique rhythms, tonalities, and corporeal techniques that are worth being contextualized and heard.

 

ALL THE STARS ARE ALIGNED

An evening with Aykan Safoğlu, from an essay film to an essay.
Thu 6 November, 6 p.m.

With a Screening of:
Hundsstern steigt ab [Dog Star Descending]
Aykan Safoğlu, Germany, 2020
HD Video, 12 min. German mit English Subtitles

Dog Star Descending looks to the skies above a North Aegean island, inviting us into the flickering dreams and memories of an artist. Photographs, shredded and reassembled, spark reminiscences in the artist’s voiceover, which relates the intertwined stories of a family trip to the island of Imbros and of his education at a bilingual German-Turkish school.
(Text by Feng-Mei Hebberer)

 

Followed by a reading of the essay Aunt Yellow

Commissioned by L’Internationale Online, 2021

Aykan Safoğlu’s essay contemplates a journey to Cologne that Aykan Safoğlu took in the summer of 2008, the year the artist migrated to Germany. During this trip, memories and feelings intermingle and paint a picture of the important connection that exists between the artist and a very special person named Zerrin.

Aykan Safoğlu creates interdisciplinary narratives where personal longings and contradictions challenge historical time. Working across film, photography, and performance, he combines intimate memory work with hybrid artistic forms. He holds an MFA from Bard College (2014), an MA from UdK Berlin (2010), and a PhD in Practice from the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (2025). Recent solo exhibitions include Reckless (Kulturhaus Obere Stube, 2024), Taurus (Pilot, Vienna, 2023), and Recess (Salt Galata, Istanbul, 2022). His work has also featured in major contexts such as 6th Kyiv Biennial (2025), 10th f/stop – Festival for Photography (2024), Les Rencontres d’Arles (2021), VIDEONALE.18 (2021), and the 11th Berlin Biennial (2020). Recipient of the Grand Prize of the City of Oberhausen (2013) and the Birgit Jürgenssen Prize (2021), Safoğlu lives and works in Vienna.

Concept and organization:
Anna Bromley, Leon Filter, Lilian Haberer, Karina Nimmerfall.

With kind support by:
Reihe 35 Jahre KHM
gkfd– Gesellschaft für künstlerische Forschung
Temporary Gallery

Image:
Aykan Safoğlu, Hundsstern steigt ab [Dog Star Descending] (Still), 2020, HD-Video, 12 min.