Re-Imagining Reality
Re-Imagining Reality focuses on Turkish women’s rights issues. It looks at the history of women’s rights and how it is to be a woman right now and tries to imagine a reality in today’s world where women can live freely. It highlights the importance of female friendships and what it means for us to show up for each other.
Through months of research, a good amount of crying, and conversations with friends, colleagues, activists, and lawyers; Re-Imagining Reality tells the story of Turkish women through Anatolian motifs and slogans while actively claiming our power. It boldly asserts our collective strength and determination.
Re-Imagining Reality is not trying to find a solution or hold people’s hands through this hard journey. It knows its audience and uses the support and responsibilities that come with it. The project focuses on creating visibility, reminding us Turkish women that we are never alone, and that we are asking for what we rightfully deserve.
Re-Imagining Reality has also been a cathartic experience for me as a woman who was once a girl living in Turkey. Being able to spend so much time on a topic I was already heavily involved in on my own time and finding a way to bring my own hopes back up has been a great process.
Softwares: Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, ProCreate
Making of
With my starting point was Anatolian motifs, I wanted to pay homage to the community of women who make hand-woven rugs. I chose a limited color pallet, used texture, and refrained from blending any colors. For the middle repeating pattern, I used different iterations of motifs that already exist to tell a story of womanhood and freedom. The rest of the visuals are allegories with Turkish context.
The phrases in the second and the fourth posters come from Turkish context also. “Woman is [a] woman, your father is a flower” is a known protest slogan as a response to women being called delicate flowers in a very condescending way. The fourth one is a retort to what a former deputy prime minister (2014) said in relation to sexual assault and femicide numbers going up to put the blame on the women, “women shouldn’t laugh out loud in public.”
Anger. Realization of privilege. Utopia. Hope. Change. Sisterhood. Solidarity.
The posters, cut in half, tell a story and take you through a journey. The separation of the mirrored images with different text tells the audience that they belong together, no matter how far. There are many easter eggs for the eyes that see.
The three risograph printed zines hanging with the posters not only help with telling a narrative but they also helped me in refocusing on hope as I was working with a heavy subject.
