In this episode, we host globetrotter artist Ahmet Öğüt. With many trades in his pocket, Ahmet is a tireless people’s person as well as a hacker of sorts whose art-making competence allows him to infiltrate institutions from within to create parasitic organizations that instigate change!

Ahmet Öğüt is an internationally acclaimed artist. His works often delve into topics such as religion, social norms, and politics using humor. Ahmet is the founder of the "Silent University", a roaming learning platform that aims to empower undocumented people through employing them as tutors. He is also the co-initiator of the "Code of Acquisitions" (with Burak Arikan), a watch-dog for ethical practices of art institutions, galleries and studios.

Links

Ahmet’s website is packed with further readings and additional material on his works. http://www.ahmetogut.com

Initiated by Ahmet in 2012, The Silent University is a mobile and iterative institution. As a solidarity school run by refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants, it facilitates knowledge exchange dedicated to academics that cannot share their knowledge due to bureaucratic or juridical obstacles. https://thesilentuniversity.org

Co-founded by Ahmet with Burak Arıkan, Code of Acquisitions is an ongoing investigation about good and bad practices of art institutions, galleries, and studios. It’s inquiries address published policies as well as cases of misconduct and abuse. https://codeofacquisitions.org

Tokyo based collective Chimpom invited artists such as Ai Weiwei, Taryn Simon, Trevor Paglen, and Ahmet Öğüt to contribute to an exhibition at Fukushima. These works are installed and waiting to be discovered by future settlers for years to come. More information about the “Dont follow the wind” exhibition. http://chimpom.jp/project/dfw.html

The Guardian’s Jonathan Jones was critical of this exhibition. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2015/jul/20/fukushima-exclusion-zone-art-politics

Find out how one of the curators Jason Waite revisited the project. https://www.e-flux.com/architecture/at-the-border/325747/the-entropic-silence-of-fukushima/

Episode recorded on Zoom on April 21st 2020. Interview by Can Altay.

Produced by Asli Altay and Sarp Renk Özer. Music by Grup Ses.