Cloths, soap dishes, prayer rugs with ornate lace adornments. They were
collected and preserved by her mother over the course of many years, some had
already been part of her own dowry. Now they are destined for her daughter and
her own family, her own home. To be passed on the day her daughter leaves the
family.
The fabrics embody a specific perspective on the life of Nurgül Dursun’s mother
and the transformation of work from farm labor to craftsmanship to factory work.
Through her personal dowry, Nurgül Dursun endeavors to explore this history
and, to some extent, reflect on the accompanying heritage.
The dowry becomes artistic material that Nurgül Dursun transforms into an
installation for the exhibition “Off you go” in the showcases of the Kunstverein
Harburger Bahnhof.
As part of the exhibition, the Kunstverein is showing Nurgül Dursun’s newly
created film work “Somut Olmayan Miras, Açıklaması / Intangible Heritage,
Explained,” in which she embarks on a biographical search for clues and travels
to places where her family manufactured and sold textiles.