Travel log of an artist in Eastern Mediterranean

Official URL: https://www.iemed.org/publication/travel-log-of-an-artist-in-eastern-mediterranean/

In this text, the visual artist Selim Birsel tells the story of his journey of several years through various Mediterranean places marked by war and violence (the Turkish Syrian border, Northern Cyprus, inland Lebanon) in an effort to discover the environment and, by interacting with it, make a work of art emerge from that discovery. Thus, the creative process is triggered by the artist’s curious gaze, the walks, the talks with the locals and other artists or the work with the students. From this, Birsel builds an oeuvre constantly in dialogue with the environment that inspires it, as a response to the emotions and thoughts that arise in the interaction. In this way the artist cultivates his own garden, which is nothing but a reflection of everything that surrounds, moves and provokes him. https://www.iemed.org/publication/travel-log-of-an-artist-in-eastern-mediterranean/