FOCUS: Funda Baysal and Irem Sezer Kalyoncu

Join artist Funda Baysal and curator Irem Sezer Kalyoncu for a FOCUS delving into Baysal’s work Timely, On time in My Oma exhibition. The conversation will open up memories, personal history and heritage of the artist that are closely linked to processes of tea harvest in the Black Sea region in Turkey.

This FOCUS is part of Show and Tell, a day of artist-led programs that celebrates the mid-way point of My Oma, our current exhibition dedicated to grandmothers as encountered in the work of 24 artists from 19 countries.

Born in Ankara, Funda Baysal is an artist and ceramist based in Rotterdam. Her practice explores the relationship between individuals and their surroundings, oscillating between different frameworks. She creates solid forms that come into existence through her use of various materials, material combinations, tools, chemicals, and heat. For My Oma, Baysal created a 3D-printed sculpture with handmade ceramics in the shape of leaves.

For this FOCUS, Baysal has invited the Amsterdam-based curator Irem Sezer Kalyoncu to join her. Sezer is a cultural professional and independent curator. Over the past years she worked in various arts and cultural organizations both in Turkey and the Netherlands including The Museum of Innocence, Prince Claus Fund and Framer Framed, CODA Apeldoorn. Both Sezer and the artist have moved to the Netherlands from Turkey in the last decade, creating a shared understanding of changing heritage and the relationship to it living in a different culture.

Drawing from their personal experience and conversations, Sezer and Baysal will invite visitors to have a cup of tea with them and talk about the connections between landscape and memory. During her childhood, Baysal would pick tea tree leaves with her grandmother. Through reminiscing, the artist and curator will touch on subjects like the intergenerational concept of being on time and timely, labor and unconditional work, investing and harvesting.