Residency artists and researchers

Multidisciplinary art

Kavachi

Visual Artist

At Saari, visual artist Kavachi is working on his work that studies household chores and related gender roles from kitchen towels he received as donations.

Photo: Jussi Virkkumaa

I vacuumed the house
He mopped the floor
I took the trash out
He cooked for me
and
I washed the dishes
He cleaned the bathroom
I wiped the window
and
He put up the curtains
I washed the sheets
He made the bed
I set the alarm
He turned off the bedside lamp
I scratched his back
He made a coffee
I read a poem
He watered the plants
I changed the water in the aquarium
He did the laundry
and
I hung up the laundry
He hammered a nail in the wall
I hung a painting
He ironed my shirt
I repaired a hole in his t-shirt
He turned on the radio
I cut his hair
He cut mine
And
We welcomed the guests together.

At Saari, I am working on a text-based work titled “We Welcomed The Guests Together”, addressing domestic activities, which occupy our daily life at the home and it also refers to the division of labour for couples and gender roles. Who should do the household chores?

During the pandemic, I spent more time at home, and the quarantine process allowed me to question the daily activities in terms of artistic practice. I think we all may realize during the lockdown how much labour goes into running a household. I started the project almost one and a half years ago. I have collected tablecloths, napkins and dishwasher towels from people with different backgrounds. And during my residency, I will continue to collect kitchen fabrics and hear local people’s stories about domestic labour, which will help me to reflect these stories on the collected textile materials by sewing them together with my interpretation. I aim to develop the project by having plenty of working time in outstanding natural surroundings, and I want to exchange ideas with other fellows and read books.

 

Kavachi was born in 1989 in Denizli, Turkey and is based in Germany. He is interested in the performative and emotional aspects of everyday life. He engages in topics such as migration, childhood memories, queer identities, labour and domesticity. His practice ranges from temporary installation to performance, video, drawing and textile-based works. After completing his BA at Sıtkı Koçman University in Muğla and his MFA in Painting at Hacettepe University in Ankara in Turkey, He received an MFA degree from Public Art and New Artistic Strategies at Bauhaus University Weimar in 2018.