EU

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EU is a series of 27 handmade cotton dolls of famous Turks which are carried in a suitcase or suitcases. The dolls’ faces are caricatured in black outlines, easily recognizable as the famous people they portray but also depicting all-encompassing cultural stereotypes that devoid personal identity.

The inspiration for putting the puppets in the symbolically red suitcase, color of the Turkish flag, comes from the artist’s childish wish to curl up in a suitcase and being taken, easily, to a faraway place. A childish wish that cannot imagine the actual horrors of the illegal stowaway, attempting to flee to a safer, better place.

“EU”. Sculpture: Silk screened cotton puppets, red suitcase. Dimensions: 68cm X 60cm X 20cm – 27” X 24” X 8”. © Devrim Kadirbeyoğlu 2009.