Erdem Gündüz in “Frozen Dreams”

During the Gezi uprisings in summer 2013 Erdem Gündüz gained a sudden fame. In the night of the 18th of June, when all the demonstrations on Taksim Square were forbidden, he kept standing in front of the Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM) staring on the building. The AKM is one of the central cultural palaces in Istanbul and a symbol for the spirit of the early Republican times. In spite of former civil unrests against its demolishment the building is falling into disrepair since years. Prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who caused the Gezi uprisings partly with plans to build a shopping mall in form of an Ottoman military building in the small Gezi Park beside Taksim Square, repeated his plans to get the AKM demolished last summer. The “standing man-performance” got one of the outstanding artistically interventions in public space during the summer of protest.

One year later, Erdem Gündüz is disenchanted regarding the possibilities of political protests in the form of the Gezi uprisings. His passion for dancing and performing is unbroken though. Individual activities are more meaningful to him in these days in Turkey, where demonstrators are beaten up and shot during public protests.  Dancing in a formation with time, space and vision is the task in “Frozen dreams”. Watch and listen to Erdem Gündüz’ performative and  personal statements.

As a parallel event to the 19th Istanbul Theatre Festival American choreographer Julia Ritter and Turkish Choreographer Ayrin Ersöz introduced “Frozen dreams”, an immersive dance theatre. It was performed in the historical Energy museum at Bilgi University in Istanbul between second and ninth of June 2014. One of the dancers is Erdem Gündüz alias “the standing man”.

The Silahtarağa Power Plant’s first two engine rooms, built in 1913 and 1921 respectively, were reinforced and converted into the santralistanbul Museum of Energy, retaining as many original elements as possible.

See more about the standing man: http://www.inenart.eu/?p=10101

Documentary Film on artist intervntions during the Gezi uprisings: http://www.inenart.eu/?p=12401