All Borders Are Within Us, digital print on fabric 2016
Viron Erol Vert's contribution to the show is in the form of a creative solution for the so-called »Great Hijab Debate« which has created waves to this day in Europe but also in other countries, such as Turkey. The work consists of a hijab printed with two female hairstyles in different colours. The headscarf does justice to opponents and proponents of the hijab: thus, the headscarf could allow traditional Muslim women who do not want to renounce the hijab the chance to wear one in circumstances in which such garments are frowned upon, without causing offence and without compromising individual principles. Conversely, a western-oriented woman could use the headscarf when appearing in a context where such a garment is required without sacrificing her hairstyle, indeed, also with the added bonus of having a choice between two different colours. The work is informed by a degree of humour, underlining the fact that such demands cannot be met without a certain creativity and inventiveness. The title »All borders are within us« is printed on the edges of the scarf in four different languages. Because ideas of how a woman's head should look create borders that we might consider unalterable, but which ultimately we and our attitudes define.
Viron Erol Vert
* 1975 in Berlin, Germany. Lives and works in Berlin, Germany.
He is strongly influenced by his multicultural background that arches between Orient and Occident. This cultural matrix is one of the reasons that leads him to question identity and affinity which are the central subjects in his artistic work. He analyses human kind regarding social and cultural topics in society.
2011–2012 master student, Tristan Pranyko at KHB Berlin; 2007–2011 Textile and Surface department at KHB, Berlin; 2002–2004 Visual art at the “Royal Academy Antwerp”; 1998–2002 interdisciplinary studies at the HTW, Berlin 1997–1998 ESMOD, Berlin. Solo shows: 2014 “The Chronist”, Stuttgart, Germany; 2014 “Engineering Abraham 1”, Berlin, Germany; 2013 “WHILE/STOCKS/LAST” Istanbul, Turkey; 2013 “Privat View”, xavierlaboulbenne, Berlin, Germany; 2013 “Typhon, Transit, Aphrodite” Berlin, Germany; 2012 “7 Curtains”, Germany; 2011 “Air Abraham”, Berlin, Germany; 2010 “By Aidmail”, Berlin, Germany; 2010 “Missing Link aka Himmel/Höll”, Berlin, Germany; 2010 “Peripetia”, Germany; 2007 “13 Monde” Berlin, Germany. Awards: 2015/2016 Working stipend of the Berlin Senate, Berlin; 2014 Exhibition Grant, Kunstfond, Bonn; in 2008 Viron Erol Vert won the first prize in the category Painting and Illustration, of the Turkish Society for Sculpting and Arts awarded by Aksanat, Istanbul.
