Men Maim
Plants Reclaim
113 x 101 cm.
linen, felt, lace, embroidery
2021
In 1999 Atakan participated in the International Women’s Art Festival, in Aleppo, Syria. At that time she encountered a poor but lively city with colorful streets full of rose petal vendors and ancient hans and baths. At that time she took touristic photographs at archeological sites.
Today, after ten years of war, with half a million deaths, 13 million displaced persons, of which 5.6 million are refugees, for her these photographs acquired another level of meaning. Not wanting to know if these structures remain standing, the artist imagined them being reclaimed by nature. While the word maim, usually refers to permanently damaging wounds or injuries to the bodies of people or animals, she uses it to refer to destruction rendered by men to structures as well.