Gamze Öztürk ~ A dream I had several decades afterwards of vivid reds and warm heads
Gamze Öztürk's "A dream I had several decades afterwards of vivid reds and warm heads" was presented before live audience at Centrale Fies, Dro, Italy on August 2, 2024 as one of 38 AEROPONIC ACTS of CHAMELEON ORBIT curated by Elisa Giuliani & Giulia Crispiani.
Here you will find the documentation of Gamze Öztürk's presentation as filmed by Baha Görkem Yalım. The written report is by Bethany Crawford and it includes a summary of the comments by esteemed guest respondents.
A dream I had several decades afterwards of vivid reds and warm heads
Gamze Öztürk's question: How can I dream in between dreams?
Gamze's introduction:
Bethany's report: The performance opens with three veiled performers positioned atop a staircase, shrouded in red fabric that conceals their faces. With tambourines in hand, they summon the audience into the space. The soft ringing of bells fills the room, setting a cadence that feels both ceremonial and timeless. The performers’ matching dresses, their whispered intimations, and the symbolism woven into the installation pieces – hanging fabric, roped bars, and suspended sheets – all contribute to a haunting tableau that reclaims and reimagines heritages, mythologies and forklores.
As the performance progresses, the veiled figures move with a deliberate rhythm, stamping their feet and glancing back at the audience. As the performers whisper and stamp their feet in rhythm, a lone figure stands apart, unveiled, her long hair in a braid that seems both integral to her and weighted with significance. This fourth performer begins to read from a text that speaks to loss – specifically, the act of someone taking her hair. The performers words, recited from a first-person perspective, feel cinematic whilst further accompanied by the rhythm from a percussionist, drawing the audience deeper into a mythic space. Here, the performance takes on a new dimension: it feels like a ritual reenactment, a reclaiming of folkloric sensibilities.
The story’s themes expand through the gestures of the veiled performers, who seem like snake-like characters, embodying both the danger and wisdom associated with the serpent in myth. As one performer slowly wraps layers of scarves around her head, they transform, performing a ritual of layered concealment and self-preservation. In a climactic moment, the braided performer struggles forward, her hair seemingly caught, tethering her to the spot as she struggles to move forward. The veiled performers observe her, both curious and taunting, questioning if she will break free. Finally, in a fierce act of agency, she cuts her braid, releasing herself from the constraints it symbolizes. The act of cutting her braid, intensified by the percussionist’s accelerating rhythm.
In a final, cathartic gesture, the perfomer takes up a microphone and sings, accompanied by music that invites the audience to join her in a dance of liberation. The costumes, rich with fringe and diverse textures, are as varied as the histories they conjure. This act of self-liberation, severing herself from the weight of her braid, symbolizes a reclaiming of narrative. Ultimately, the performance is a dynamic exploration of how to revisit folkloric wisdom and narratives held and passed on beyond the imperial institutions of archive. By resurrecting stories and rituals of the past, it gestures toward alternative modes of storytelling and activating collective knowledge beyond the oppressive containment of linear time and space.
Inti Guerrero: Inti thanks Gamze for the beautiful exploration of temporality and for creating a portal into a sensibility that some of us wish we possessed. Yesterday, he mentioned the ongoing conversations and references around mythology, alchemy, and paganism, and how they connect to my own living heritage—a heritage rich in non-Christian mythological elements that still manifest in Europe today.
This piece really captures that spirit, layering tales and myths in a choreography that beautifully expresses femininity and its many dimensions, as well as the socio-political symbolism of hair. Hair carries profound cultural significance across different histories, manifesting as a means of escape or resistance, especially in Black history and the southern United States. The performance presented these elements in such a compelling way—it wasn’t just theater. It reminded him of his recent trip to Sardinia, where he encountered an incredible exhibition about the Nuragic civilization, an ancient, pre-modern culture that has left its ruins and a cosmological archive of its own. This civilization, similar to the Carthaginians, represents a history apart from the dominant Judeo-Christian tradition in Europe. There’s an interesting art historical connection here. In the early 20th century, modernist artists from Sardinia and mainland Italy began to look back at these pre-Christian, indigenous traditions, finding an affinity with them beyond the western Christian framework. This performance resonates with that lineage. The term 'pagan' can be challenging because it’s often imagined as something archaic, disconnected from the present, but there are moments—like in this performance—that show it’s still very much alive.
Inti comments that the music tonight was incredible as well—a huge congratulations to the percussionists. They created a hypnotic, immersive experience, a true portal into an aesthetic that might not be to everyone’s taste, but one that resonates with those willing to engage deeply with its temporality.
The piece also calls to Inti’s mind certain modernist references, especially how, in the 20th century, artists, intellectuals, and writers began reframing these older cosmologies. Take The Golden Bough by James Frazer, for example, a seminal work in comparative religion and mythology that influenced thinkers like Nietzsche and Freud. There was a moment tonight that felt like the sacrificial lamb in Frazer’s work—a powerful way of acknowledging a tradition outside the pre-modern industrial space, one that could spark further exploration.
Antonia Majaca: Antonia thanks Gamze for the presentation and comments that she appreciate Inti’s references; she always learn so much from her colleagues. It's challenging to respond immediately because this piece is incredibly layered, and it’s clear that so much thought and effort went into it. The details are exquisite—from the gorgeous costumes to the way Gamze opened the space in a lyrical, bucolic, and highly visual manner. The iconographical references draw us into another space, creating a portal to another world.
Antonia was particularly struck by the symbolic meaning of the images on the beautiful drapes. She assumes the pomegranate symbolizes fertility, which connects to the goddess you’re referencing and the theme of transformation. This also brings to Antonia’s mind the element of fire, not just as a tool of destruction but as a means of transubstantiation and profound transformation. The path of death and fundamental change is at the core of what you confronted us with, visually stunning and charged with energy. The gesture towards fire’s transformative faculty was beautifully conveyed.
Ramon Amaro: Ramon feels like he’ll be reflecting on this performance for a while. On the surface, Gamze had an abstract presentation, but then there are layers—the fabric, percussion, hair, backup dancers, and screens—all these elements carrying meanings traditionally associated with various symbolic frameworks. This makes Gazme’s project particularly interesting, as it confronts how we experience something in the spatiotemporal moment, how we negotiate our own roles in these experiences, and how we become messengers of these elements. Reconciling ourselves with these symbolic forms brings up a fundamental question: while these symbols might not be new, their metaphysical essence has been captured, misused, and manipulated throughout history, often serving different ends. All we’re left with is our belief in their reality and the continuous negotiation of meaning that is life itself.
There’s a unique moment happening right now. Sometimes, seemingly disparate spaces or conversations unexpectedly intersect, almost as if students and thinkers are in dialogue without realizing it. This reminds me of the supercharged intellectual atmosphere of movements like the ’68 riots, where there was a sense of tapping into a ‘metaphysical supermind.’
Ramon reflects that Gamze’s performance draws from this lineage of metaphysical custom and ritual, yet there’s a fresh negotiation here—a language that hasn’t fully formed but has the potential to evolve into something uncontainable and transformative. It builds on longstanding traditions, bringing to mind artists Tiara Roxane in Berlin, from mestiza heritage, who works with fabric and the color red to metabolize narratives through material forms.
This is a conversation of individuals in search of a language, but one that isn’t about appropriating transgenerational knowledge. Rather, it’s about translating deities and ancestral knowledge into something that holds relevance today, something that could even change the world. When these ideas finally find expression, they will erupt with transformative potential.
For now, Ramon advises to rely on the symbolic forms Gamze’s engaged with—they are more than sufficient. What Gamze is working with may not find a formal language for a long time, but it speaks profoundly nonetheless.
About: Gamze Öztürk
Gamze Öztürk's "A dream I had several decades afterwards of vivid reds and warm heads" was presented before live audience at Centrale Fies, Dro, Italy on August 2nd.
Find the overview of all 38 AEROPONIC ACTS 2024 here: Chameleon Orbit
