VANISHING COMMUNITIES, VANISHING CULTURES: THE YÖRÜKS OF TAURUS MOUNTAINS, TURKEY

Vanishing Communities, Vanishing Cultures: The Yörüks of Taurus Mountains, Turkey is a part of an ongoing visual ethnographic research on the impact of migration and globalization on the nomadic communities. This project is the culmination of a decade-long journey in the Himalayas and the Taurus Mountains. This exhibition documents the daily lives of nomadic people and weavers and puts a face to this (in)visible community and their vanishing culture.

The idea of a modern state birthed the notion of citizenship, which enforced the separation of legal citizens and the others. Historically speaking, nomadic communities did not belong to any marked territory because their lifestyle dictated that they migrate from one place to another in search of the pastures. With the creation of borders and the idea of belonging to a particular state created a complex identity crisis for nomadic communities, rendering them invisible in the socio-political scenario of the modern state, where they are merely reduced to statistics.

This exhibition attempts to humanize nomads and the weavers as they negotiate their changing lifestyles in this globalized world. It invites viewers to be a part of their journey and participate in the discourses about home, belonging, and statehood.