Didem Pekün

Didem Pekün (born November 1, 1978) is a Turkish-British artist-filmmaker and academic based in Istanbul and Berlin. Her work, which combines theory and practice, addresses themes such as political violence, displacement, perseverance, and communitarian dreams, such as in her last film, Otherwise in Istanbul (2024). A recurrent theme is the cycle of nature, of events that repeat themselves. She is active internationally. As co-founder of the Center for Spatial Justice (MAD) in Istanbul, she aims toreproduce spaces and practices of hope. She uses transnational knowledge and interdisciplinary expertise for local communities. She does this with a team of architects, urban planners, legal experts, artists, video makers, designers, documentary makers, and social scientists.
==Early life and education==
Pekün was born on November 1, 1978, in Istanbul, Turkey. Following a French High School education at Lycee Saint Joseph, she pursued her undergraduate studies in music at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, graduating with a BA (Hons) in 2005. She continued her education at Goldsmiths, University of London, where she earned an MA in screen documentary in 2006 and a PhD in Visual Cultures in 2016.
==Career==
===Film and art===
After several years in music as a DJ, she turned to filmmaking in 2005. Pekün's early films explore the intersections of political violence and displacement. Her films have an aesthetic lineage to that of John Akomfrah, who investigates memory, postcolonialism, and temporality through the experience of migrant diasporas – like that of Pekün.
===Tülay German: Years of Fire and Cinders (2010)===
After several short films, her first feature-length film is Tülay German: Years of Fire and Cinders (2010), which is a film about the icon singer Tulay German: Tülay German (born 1935, also known as Toulaï in France) is a Turkish female singer, currently living in France. She is known for her modern interpretations of Turkish folk music as well as as a figure in the left scene.
===of dice and men (2011-16)===
Pekün’s following two-screen film installation of Dice and Men (2011-16) was part of her artistic research PhD at Goldsmiths; it has been in several collections, including MAXXI Museum and Van Abbemuseum. Barbara London, in her book “Video Art: the First 50 Years” wrote ““When I first encountered of dice and men (2011-16), a panoramic installation by Turkish-British artist Didem Pekün (1978) that manages to be both lyrical and politicized, I thought back to the great American video maker, poet and gay rights activist Marlon T Briggs (1957-1994). His deeply personal and emotional work tested the conventions of the media essay, a form that attempts to unravel the complexities of current political events…. Pekün, like Riggs, has blurred the line between narrative essays and fact-based documentaries. In her case, she crafted something both time-based and sculptural."
===Araf (2018)===
Her film Araf premiered at Berlinale (2018), traveled to international festivals, and has been exhibited solo and in biennales. The documentary film critic Tue Steen Muller wrote “Surprise me, give me something extraordinary, make the form important, challenge me, make me learn something new. This Turkish film, 45 minutes long, fulfilled the wishes of this old documentary addict.”Araf’s soundtrack is from Ellen Arkbro’s album For Organ and Brass and Nabelose. 
=== Disturbed Earth (2021)===
Her film Disturbed Earth premiered at the BFI London Film Festival and has been exhibited internationally. The film was composed again of the music of David Lang (after Ecclesiastes). The film has been commissioned by Nick Aikens for his large sclae research based exhibition Rewinding Internationalism. In the same titled publication and conversation with the curator Pekün states.
===Otherwise in Istanbul (2024)===
A creative dance documentary, Otherwise in Istanbul, follows the Istanbulian dancer Mihran Tomasyan, in a narrative told through his Armenian family history and identity, woven with archives, a collectively improvised choreography and the chaos of contemporary Istanbul. The film will be launched in Autumn 2024.
===At night, on faultlines (2024)===
Her most recent film installation took place at Wolfgang Tillmans’ Between Bridges Foundation. The piece, titled at night, on faultlines (2024) is a five screens installation that is a performative work that focuses on the question of “home” in Istanbul, and beyond.
She has had solo presentations at Delfina Foundation in London (2016), at Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven (2020), Tavros in Athens (2022) as well as Between Bridges Berlin.
Pekün won several awards including Sarajevo Film Festival and received esteemed artist scholarships like that of Berlin Artistic Research Program by Berlin Senate, Graduertenschule of Universitat der Kunste, and Institute of Advanced Studies at Central European University. Currently, she is the resident artist at Between Bridges Foundation (founded by Wolfgang Tillmans) in Berlin.
Her work has been featured in numerous international film festivals, including Berlinale, Venice, BFI London Film Festival, Sarajevo Film Festival as well as museums like MAXXI Museum, Van Abbe museum, das Stoom, Villa Arson, and lulea biennale, amongst others.
==Other activities==
She has been a founding member of Progressive International’s Art of the International and contributed with posters to the workshop such as “Yalla Comrade” and “The search for love continues even in the face of great odds”.
She was a founder of Center for Spatial Justice in Istanbul where she co initiated and created Hope Archive. Hope Archive is a visual datatbase mapping spatial and ecological justice that aims to create a visual memory.https://vanabbemuseum.nl/en/collection/details/collection/?lookup%5B1673%5D%5Bfilter%5D%5B0%5D=id%3AC11580
==Academic roles==
Pekün has held teaching positions at several universities in Istanbul, including Bilgi University, Sabancı University, Koç University, and Kadir Has University. She has also taught at the Central European University in Budapest and has been a guest lecturer at institutions such as Oslo Art Academy and DAI Arnheim.
She has held postdoctoral fellowships at the Institute of Advanced Studies - Central European University (2017-2018), Visual Cultures - Goldsmiths (2018), and Graduertenschule - University of the Arts Berlin (2019-2021).
==Personal life==
Pekün's family includes notable figures such as her father, Levent Pekün, a rally champion, and her brother, Timur Pekün, a car racer. Her sister-in-law, Ceylan Çarmıklı Pekün, is a well-known chef in Istanbul.
==Films and video installations==
* What do you do? (2005)
* Bewitched, bothered and bewildered (2006)
* The tree that smiles at me (2007)
* Tülay German: Years of Fire and Cinders (2010)
* of dice and men (2011-16)
* Araf (2018)
* Disturbed Earth (2021)
* Otherwise in Istanbul (2024)
* At night, on faultlines (2024)
Category:1978 births
Category:Filmmakers
Category:Academics
Category:People from Istanbul
Category:Turkish people