Leaving was the only option left

In her work, artist and photographer Cihan Çakmak (born 1993) explores various aspects of origin and identity, particularly in the context of her own German-Kurdisch biography, which navigates a critical tension between tradition and self-discovery. With performative photographic self-portraits, gestural representations of female protagonists, a video installation, drawings and texts, Çakmak explores moments of distance and closeness, emancipation and external control. Her works refer to individual spheres of action and reflect the emotional traces of family traumas and collective memories – always caught between belonging and separation.