Bastarda
In Istanbul, Baştarda was constructed beneath a reproduction of the wooden trusses of the hall of Sale d’Armi in the Venice shipyard that hosts the Pavilion of Turkey. Measuring 30 meters long and weighing four tons, the vessel was built from more than 500 pieces including seven kilometers of steel cable and abandoned materials found on site including wooden molds, discarded furniture, signboards, and boats. In April, the components were shipped to Sale d’Armi, where Baştarda was re-constructed in May for the Pavilion of Turkey. When La Biennale closes in November 2016, Baştarda will continue her journey and she will eventually become the centerpiece of a museum of arsenal in Tersane when the site is opened to the public in Istanbul.
DARZANA
Darzanà’s main theme raises the question of whether it is possible to transform borders, fronts, and other spaces of conflict into thresholds and spaces of consensus. In this vein, Baştarda becomes a vessel of frontier infringement. She came to Venice, and she will eventually go back to Istanbul, traveling back and forth, just as the languages, the architectural forms, and people of the Mediterranean, have done throughout history. She will continue to tell her stories and to show that one can trespass to borders within cities or between cultures. Reporting from Darzanà, one can see the futility of demarcations on the seas and in between the words.
Rolab Design Office
Rolab Atelier
Orhanlı, Orta Mahallesi, Üniversite Cd. No:31/1, 34956 Tuzla/İstanbul