Companions
 Companionsby Esra Plümer Bardak and Mehmet RatipCompanions brings together a series of collages by Esra Plümer Bardak and 10 poems by Mehmet Ratip, as the result of a collaboration that delves into themes such as poverty, loss, nature, and identity, unveiling the complexity of landscapes, different sedimentations, and scales. These small-scale collage compositions, or landscapes, that incite places, real, imagined, or forgotten are presented alongside poems that accompany and give voice to them. The exchange between word and image channeled and challenged proximity to the concept of “here”, to space, to one another, and oneself. These landscapes and their companion voices are created in the present moment, yet are transcendental, oscillating between being in the moment and traveling through history by means of inherited narratives and trauma. The collaboration unpacks the complexity of (Cypriot) landscapes, of different sedimentations, and scales, as an entry into internal and subjective terrains of misery, loss, and grief, rooted(less)ness and Cypriotness through language. An exhibition, “Companions”, showcasing the works with poems was held at the ARUCAD Art Space Gallery in 2023 on the occasion of publishing the book of the same title. Offering a captivating fusion of art and literature, the book invites readers to contemplate and explore the stories behind and within the layers of both poems and collages. ABOUT THE BOOK |