Those Born to Earth

Souvenirs of the Future - Pera Museum

October 26, 2023 - February 25, 2024

Curated by Ulya Soley

Ceramic Installation - Various dimesions

Photo Credit: İbrahim Karakütük

In his installation Those Born to Earth (2023), Metehan Törer traces the knowledge and memory transmitted among generations through ceramics. Inspired by the 1950s double-handled vase in the Kütahya Ties and Ceramics Collection, his work consists of vases resembling the body in various forms stretched on the floor with monumental chandeliers placed around them. The reliefs of fish scales on the chandeliers once again draw inspiration from the vase ornaments in the collection. Törer, who layers the ceramic surface rather than patterning it, uses the broken carnation motif as one of the installation's central elements. This object, which also finds its place in the collection, is thought to represent the transient world or spiritual love.

Transmitting his own experiences to objects, the artist produces ceramic figures using an autobiographic narrative language. Those Born to Earth, which recalls a ritual space comprised of figures chained to one another, reanimates the memory of the queer body with ceramic objects.