ABSTRACT
In the summer of 2010, to develop the Botany Carcinoma exhibition project, xurban_collective, Güven İncirlioğlu and I, embarked on a journey towards northeastern Anatolia in an effort to visit some of the Armenian villages and towns in the region, which were evacuated after the 1915 genocide. The “East” is more than a destination, however; it is a social, political and ideological category that requires careful scrutiny. We started from the capital city, Ankara, and our route took us to the east via Yozgat and Sivas to Erzincan; from there, we continued on to Bayburt, Erzurum and Kars; and on the return voyage we travelled through Artvin, Rize and Trabzon along the Black Sea coast to Samsun. Before returning to Ankara, our final stop was Hattuşaş, the city of the Hittites dating from some 3,200 years ago. Along the way, for some 2,800 kilometres, in addition to hydroelectric dams, we encountered massive highway construction, existing roads being doubled, and many tunnels and bridges being built along the ancient rivers. The country was undergoing a massive reconstruction project interconnecting the underdeveloped east to the global economy. However, large-scale economic transformation does not necessarily correspond with the idea of democratisation, which entails the cultural recognition of people(s) and facing history in consequential ways.
