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Banu Cennetoğlu
right?
What do human rights mean today, in a world where they continue to be undermined and violated? In right?, Banu Cennetoğlu presents the articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 in bouquets of gold letter balloons in Kanal’s showroom. As the balloons slowly deflate, the work questions the language of rights and the human rights framework the Declaration helped put into place. It reflects on what these rights mean, their history and lofty rhetoric, but also on how their inherent promises visibly fade.
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Showroom
With right?, Banu Cennetoğlu presents the articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in bouquets of gold letter balloons in Kanal’s showroom. Each bundle represents one of the 30 articles of the Declaration. Proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations in Paris on 10 December 1948, three years after the end of the Second World War, the UDHR sets out, for the first time, the fundamental human rights to be universally protected. Translated into over 500 languages, it is one of the most widely circulated documents in existence. But what do these rights really mean in a world where they are still and persistently violated?
For Kanal’s opening, the artist – who lives and works in Istanbul – presents all 30 articles together for the very first time. Brussels is a fitting place for this gathering: it is home to the European institutions and NATO headquarters, organisations that claim to protect peace and democracy.
As the days pass, the balloons deflate and lose their sheen. The letters progressively deform and potentially transform. This gradual collapse exposes the vulnerability of human rights: they exist only as long as they are actively upheld, defended and reimagined. right? is both a testament and a warning – a reminder that human rights are never permanently secured.
Banu Cennetoğlu’s work investigates how narratives, data and documents circulate in public space and how they shape collective understanding.
Programme
Credits and bios
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- Scenography design
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- Installation
- Art2Work
- Public programme by
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- In partnership with
- Amnesty International Belgique francophone ,
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- Carine Thibaut ,
- La Voix des Sans Papiers ,
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- Special thanks to
- Sylvia Kouvali Gallery
Curated by Devrim Bayar, Senior curator
Scenography design by Brice Muyle, Technical manager
Produced by Mathilde Vanden Bossche, Production manager and Axel De Marteau, Technical manager
Public programme by Gratienne Dubois, Education manager, Mathilde Letombe, Education officer, Maude Malengrez, Interpretation editor and Stefaan Willems, Mediation manager
In partnership with
Amnesty International Belgique francophone: Maryse Hendrix and Mathilda Lyon, Members of the culture commission, Carine Thibaut, Director
La Voix des Sans Papiers: Aista Bah, Thierno Dia, Mamadou Taslim Diallo, Henriette Essami Khaullot, Crecha Gomes Da Silva Kanda, Apollinaire Lessomo, Modou Ndiaye and Alberto Isifin Tchama
With special thanks to Sylvia Kouvali Gallery
