Hinterlands
About
Hinterlands 2023-2024 was a grassroots placemaking for wellbeing, and future generations' projects. Artists and community partners explored culture and community-led placemaking, folklore and climate action, even city planning (by children) along the waterways, and in partner venues. This community-led series of temporary interventions aimed to reimagine, enhance and transform key spaces along the River Lea culminating in The River Lea Festival, 2024.
Press Release
Renin Bilginer’s research into the subjects of water and women is inspired by her interests in folklore and storytelling. At the heart of her work for Hinterlands is an exploration of what the waterways mean to local women, particularly women of ethnic minorities, through conversations, global and historic archival research and creative making.
For the festival in 2024 Bilginer is developing work in collaboration with Brighton-based dance company Ceyda Tanc Dance which has many of its dancers based in North London. Like Bilginer, Tanc is half-Turkish and half-English, and this heritage shapes their perspectives and practices in a profound sense. Tanc’s research into traditional Turkish folk dancing, and the realisation that many of the most prominent dance steps are performed by male dancers, has led to a reinterpretation which translates this allocation into steps for female or female identifying performers. Bilginer is working with Tanc to develop an interactive site-responsive performance for Chalk Bridge underpinned by these layers of research and by conversations with local people in community group contexts. The performers will wear textile works made by Bilginer in the form of dresses painted with dye that embody collective thoughts on water.
In community workshops at Living Room Library and Boundary Hall, Snell’s Estate, Bilginer has uncovered stories around mixed heritage identities similar to her own. These responses are influencing the performance textiles in terms of colour, shape, pattern and motif. Questions such as ‘what colour do you think of when you hear the words “feminine power”?’ or ‘do you have a favourite memory relating to water?’ have been catalysts for unlocking memories from other people. Answers have included written, drawn, collaged and diagrammatic responses. She explains that one Turkish woman, in response to the prompt ‘describe a moment where you felt powerful?’ told her that a recent health diagnosis has resulted in her seeking to enjoy every moment in the present, reclaiming power for herself.
In Bilginer’s wider practice, ideas of masquerade and masking are important because of their transformative capabilities, especially in relation to ideas of personal identity. With this in mind, other children’s workshops facilitated by Bilginer have explored water spirits and mask making, giving children opportunity to explore subjects playfully and openly. Bilginer is also presenting textile works hung from Chalk Bridge for this year’s festival, creating an otherworldly landscape connected to water and female empowerment. In August 2023 she began exploring water, spirituality, belief and collective action for Hinterlands by creating The Lea Water Temple installation at Bloqs. In this work, people could make contributions to fabric scrolls tied to the structural form of the temple. This piece was inspired by global research into Tibetan prayer flags which are hung high so that the prayers can be carried away in the wind.
This is the first time that Bilginer has worked with community groups in this way. She describes this is an important moment in her artistic practice, allowing it to be opened up to the ideas and experiences of other people. The performance is live act which she hopes can stimulate memories, allowing people to reflect on their own connections to water, leading to consideration of how the waterways can benefit communities in multiple ways.
Text by Anneka French