Longshot. Spaces of Multilingualism – en evening with Aykan Safoğlu

“Spaces of multilingualism” unfold in overlaps of the spoken, written, heard, and read. In two guest lectures, we will focus on multilingual oral and written transmissions, with translations, recordings, and embodiments of various languages of art and literature. These create gateways that challenge the supposed singularity of a language by not only fanning out concepts, but also what they seek to convey. This gives rise to unique rhythms, tonalities, and corporeal techniques that are worth being contextualized and heard.

The first guest in the winter semester is Aykan Safoğlu. Under the title ‘All the stars are aligned’, he presents an evening ‘from an essay film to an essay’.

'Dog Star Descending' of Aykan Safoğlu (Germany, 2020, HD-Video, 12 min., Dt. mit engl. Untertiteln) looks to the skies above a North Aegean island, inviting us into the flickering dreams and memories of an artist. Photographs, shredded and reassembled, spark reminiscences in the artist’s voiceover, which relates the intertwined stories of a family trip to the island of Imbros and of his education at a bilingual German-Turkish school. (Text by Feng-Mei Hebberer)

Followed by a reading of the essay 'Aunt Yellow' (Commissioned by L’Internationale Online, 2021). Aykan Safoğlu’s essay contemplates a journey to Cologne that Aykan Safoğlu took in the summer of 2008, the year the artist migrated to Germany. During this trip, memories and feelings intermingle and paint a picture of the important connection that exists between the artist and a very special person named Zerrin.

Aykan Safoğlu creates interdisciplinary narratives where personal longings and contradictions challenge historical time. Working across film, photography, and performance, he combines intimate memory work with hybrid artistic forms. He holds an MFA from Bard College (2014), an MA from UdK Berlin (2010), and a PhD in Practice from the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (2025). Recent solo exhibitions include Reckless (Kulturhaus Obere Stube, 2024), Taurus (Pilot, Vienna, 2023), and Recess (Salt Galata, Istanbul, 2022). His work has also featured in major contexts such as 6th Kyiv Biennial (2025), 10th f/stop – Festival for Photography (2024), Les Rencontres d’Arles (2021), VIDEONALE.18 (2021), and the 11th Berlin Biennial (2020). Recipient of the Grand Prize of the City of Oberhausen (2013) and the Birgit Jürgenssen Prize (2021), Safoğlu lives and works in Vienna.