by Nergis Abiyeva

Bilsart hosts Ayse Hilal Ates’s exhibition entitled ‘‘Per Se’’ curated by Nergis Abiyeva between December 16 - 30, 2020.

‘‘Per Se’’ is a research and archiving attempt at the relationship a family has developed with olive trees. The exhibition focuses on Zeki, who has been trying to continue olive cultivation in olive groves inherited from his father for nearly forty years despite all difficulties and troubles. "Per Se" includes the enrichment and intersection in many contexts of Ates's view of this family, which she has personally known and witnessed in Küçükkuyu where she spent her summers since her childhood. Olive has various meanings in different cultures, beliefs and mythologies; symbol of prosperity, abundance, peace and immortality. The exhibiton is named after ‘delice’ that is grown spontaneously as a wild olive tree in the Aegean region. Delice which turns into an olive tree when vaccinated is transformed into an olive tree by Zeki like a healer.  This action, which includes an artisanal approach to olive cultivation and demonstrates not consuming but producing, improving and transforming, overlaps with Ates's art practice, produces a discourse on the naive and personal sides of the resistance while underlining personal existence and resistances for sustainable World. In this archiving attempt, the artist conducted a video interview with Zeki in the olive garden in Küçükkuyu. The conversation, which proceeded with questions that contained the reflection of Ates's relationship with the soil, nature and non-human creatures, evolved into a video work in which Zeki's love and affection for olive trees were made visible. A selection of photographs that Ates addresses the olive garden with its surroundings, and a booklet including the meanings which olive had in pre-historic cultures as well as mythological stories accompany video work. As for Ates's watercolor works, they take their place in the exhibition as abstract reflections of how the olive grove and delice trees have affected the artist's imagery for years. In the search of a sustainable world, ‘‘Per Se’’ aims to produce new ways of reflecting upon various forms of creation and transformation by focusing on the relationship the human species has with non-human beings.