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Public Statement of Demand for Immediate Exhibition Closure
From Ahmet Öğüt
 
October 28, 2020
 
During my career as an artist, I have worked many times in conflicted areas, and have responded to the local situation with nuanced and challenging artworks. In March of this year, a solo show of mine opened at YARAT Contemporary Art Centre in Azerbaijan.  It was scheduled to run until June, but was extended because of the pandemic. In the meantime, the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia escalated; and I have become aware that the banner of my exhibition is being used as a propaganda tool in social media along with politically motivated statements that have nothing to do with my independent vision or the content of my exhibition. As the institution has regrettably rejected my requests to take down the exhibition banner with my name appearing next to the Azerbaijani national flag on the facade of its building, and the photo thereof on its social media sites, I have no other option, but to demand the immediate closure of my exhibition at YARAT Contemporary Art Centre.  
 
I very well understand that art institutions in many countries operate under difficult political circumstances, and some succumb to state pressures as a way of self-preservation. Still, I hope that even those institutions would follow a simple ethical rule, and make an effort to protect the integrity of the artworks presented in their exhibition program–and the artists who created them–from political instrumentalization. I also believe that artists have a responsibility to insist on that protection.  
 
Respectfully,
Ahmet Öğüt