QUINTET WITHOUT BORDERS (2007)

Seeing Is Believing: The Art and Influence of Gérôme, MATHAF, Doha, 2024

Five channel synchronized PAL video, five channel audio, 21’ 21”

Artist filmmaker Ergin Cavusoglu’s multi-channel video installations poetically investigate the aesthetics of migratory politics and mobility ina state of flux, and frequently examine the real and imaginary borders between East and West. Quintet Without Borders (2007) was realized in collaboration with Bulgarian filmmaker Konstantin Bojanov. The artists commissioned and filmed five virtuoso gypsy musicians in the small border town of Kesan, Turkey. For the project, each musician was asked to choose a “dream” location near his hometown, and to perform individually his specific part within a piece from a traditional repertoire. The resulting five-channel video and audio installation brings together individual footage of the musicians to create a harmonious audio-visual piece of synchronized sound and imagery, and presents a composition rich in personal narratives on migration. The group’s music travels through a range of styles embracing variety of influences such as Turkish, Greek, Roma, Arabic, Semitic, Bulgarian, and Armenian. (SH Contemporary press release)