"Curating Contemporary Art" Seminar Program
Seminar: Justice Between Forgetting and Remembering
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Ferhat Kentel
Time: 6:00-7:30 pm
In the societies we inhabit, feelings of anger and hatred toward others are shaped not only by the social and cultural injustices of the present, but also deeply by the wounds of the past. The insecurity produced by individuals and groups who feel “unrecognized” and “disrespected” fuels hatred toward others, nourishing polarization and conflict. Just as individuals do, social groups also carry wounds from their past; when these wounds are covered over without being “healed,” the “illness” continues to fester beneath the surface, resurfacing unexpectedly. The wounds of groups whose memories have been silenced or suppressed do not only render those groups ill or traumatized; the wound of a single social group permeates the whole of society.
On the other hand, a single narrative of memory cannot be imposed upon individuals, groups, or societies that carry different traumas from the past. Instead of a “memory” constructed by the most powerful, healing through a plural memory—one in which each group listens to and embraces the others—is an essential condition for broader social justice. For this reason, we need an inclusive “memory justice” that embraces all; just as individuals do, societies too require a sustained practice of “memory work.”
About Ferhat Kentel
Ferhat Kentel is the founder of “Sociology Shop Association”, a research and civil society initiative, as a component of Art Venue Izmir - AVI. Since 2023 October, he has been lecturing part-time at Yaşar University. He prepares the programme "Hüsnükabul" on Open Radio (Apaçık Radyo), which produces content on refugee rights.
After completing his bachelor's degree in business administration at METU in 1981, he received his master's degree from Ankara University SBF in 1983 and his PhD in sociology from Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Paris in 1989. He worked as a lecturer at the French Department of Public Administration at Marmara University, the Department of Sociology at Istanbul Bilgi University and the Department of Sociology at the closed Istanbul Şehir University. From 2020 to 2024, he was a founder and the general coordinator of a foundation (BAYETAV). His research books on Euro-Turks, nationalism, Armenians and rural spaces have been published. He has published articles in various books and journals in Turkey and abroad in the fields of everyday life and sociology of emotions, new social movements, religion, Islamic movements, intellectuals, ethnic communities.
* This seminar is organized in collaboration between Akbank Sanat and Open Dialogue Istanbul
* To learn conditions of participation in a single seminar, we would kindly ask you to send an e-mail to apply@curatingcontemporaryart.org address noting the required seminar details. Single seminar participation fee is 850 TL for adults, 650 TL for students (VAT included).
* The program will take place on the online platform Zoom.