"Rugs and Kilims"
PILEVNELI Dolapdere
June 6 - July 21, 2018
PILEVNELI gallery is preparing to host Can Sayınlı's exhibition, titled "Rugs and Kilims" from June 6th to July 21st, 2018. We invite all art enthusiasts to, for the first time, see and be gripped by the million-knot energy of handwoven rugs and kilims, works that Sayınlı has been producing since 2012, which weave a tale about the resistance to the normalization of social inequality and injustice.
Sayınlı’s initial rug work, produced in collaboration with Jorgen Evil Ekvoll whom he met in 2003 whilst studying in London, was very well received in many exhibits and different platforms across the world. Sayınlı then began to a solo career whilst adding new mediums to those he already explored. He continued to interweave his designs with contemporary political themes developed from questions and issues that existed since weaving began. Sayınlı’s colorful rug work, such as Muzaffer Sarısülük, Breaking News, Mother and Whistleblowers not only remind us of a forgotten recent past but provide the opportunity to seize those moments we may have overlooked.
Recently, by research as well as serendipity, Sayınlı met master kilim weavers and learned their artistry. Sayınlı passed the art of rug work on to the British artist Charlie Swan, whom he met in early 2017 as a member of a group exhibition. As Swan also lived in Istanbul for many years, he shared many of Sayınlı’s viewpoints and approaches. Soon after, the two artists began working on collaborative projects. The Rugs and Kilims exhibition will contain handwoven kilims from the first year of their encounter and collaboration as well.