Stateless Democracy

The felt pen used by the gravedigger in Pîrsus (Suruç) to
mark the names of the dead on tombstones is running
empty. The names of nine YPJ and YPG fighters buried
today are barely legible. Three female fighters are among
today’s dead, their coffins carried by women during an
emotional ceremony attended by hundreds. Dust rises as
an excavator pushes dry earth into new graves. Meanwhile,
the aluminum coffins are taken back to the hospital for the
next transport.
Starting Tuesday, violent and in some cases armed
clashes between protesters, sectarian paramilitaries, and
police have flared up throughout Turkey. Mass arrests and
several disappearances spark fears of a permanent return
to the violently polarized situation of the 1990s. Curfews
were declared in several southeastern provinces, leading
to — apart from dozens of dead and wounded — the
postponement of the Mardin Biennial. Three days ago, my
admired colleague Șener Özmen joined our discussion in
Istanbul via Skype. He was unable to fly out as Diyarbakır
Airport was closed and live gunshots and explosions were
ringing through the city. “Don’t worry,” he smiled at the end
of his beautiful contribution emphasizing the need to keep
talking about art and literature in the face of difficulty:
“Kobanê will not fall.”
As the full moon shines down on the embattled city, the
hills close to Kobanê are filled with an incongruent mix of
onlookers, including foreign press in full Kevlar body armor,
people holding out for their relatives fighting close by,
tired children, and myself, still wearing a Moving Museum
tote bag.
Turkish armed forces fire flares to add to the confusing
scene of giant smoke plumes, ambulance horns, and faces
illuminated by mobile phone screens. At the cultural center,
a brilliant, all-female group of culture workers and municipality
officials discusses the role of art with me. I pan to
frame resident refugees observing F-16 jets circling above.
What is the task of art in times of emergency?
— Pîrsus (Suruç), on the morning of 10 October, 2014
(with Savaş Boyraz, Leyla Toprak, Salih Șahin)
Hito Steyerl is a visual artist, documentary filmmaker, and writer. This
text was first published as an announcement on e-flux on 10 October
2014. It appears here with the permission of the author and e-flux.