Tanja Ostojić
MIS(S)PLACED WOMEN?
2009–2022
A Collaborative Art Project
Exhibition at Depo Istanbul: 15 September – 28 October 2022
Mis(s)placed Women? Community Gathering: September 15–22
Live Events: September 20–22
Curated by: Arzu Yayıntaş and Tanja Ostojić
Depo Istanbul presents Mis(s)placed Women? by Tanja Ostojić, an exhibition that reflects upon a collaborative art project initiated by the artist in 2009. Consisting of performances, workshops, and an online platform, Mis(s)placed Women? includes contributions by over 170 individuals from six continents – Individuals who largely identify as women from diverse backgrounds.

The project’s participants embody and enact some of everyday life’s activities that thematise displacement, and deal with issues of migration, gender equality, climate change, feminism, queerness, gentrification, inclusion, accessibility, power relations, and vulnerability, particularly as it relates to female and transgender bodies. While investigating privilege by distinguishing between working mobility, forced or desired migration, and how arbitrary laws apply to moving bodies, Mis(s)placed Women? also explores diverse public spaces and the invisibility of certain groups within them, using feminist emancipatory methodologies and artistic and community-building practices.
From the rich project archive, some of the most relevant contributions were selected by Arzu Yayıntaş and Tanja Ostojić to be displayed at Depo, as a two-floor multimedia installation consisting of photos, videos, and performance scores, along with signs, textile works, drawings of performances, artefacts, stories, and maps collected globally in the thirteen years of the project’s development. A part of the exhibition space has been arranged as a gathering place that invites the visitor to be an explorer and participant rather than just a viewer, while the six performance scores are there to be readapted and tried out. Exhibition reader in English and in Turkish, edited by Ostojić, can be collected in the venue and is as well available as a free download PDF.
Depo’s distinguished political profile and engagement with civil society makes it an ideal venue to host this socially engaged project interested in interweaving artistic and activist practices. The exhibition is a collateral event of the 17th Istanbul Biennial.
Exhibition Contributors: Teresa Albor, Nela Antonović, Gaby Bila-Günther aka LADY GABY, Dagmara Bilon, Mia Bradić, Ines Borovac, Tatiana Bogaceva, Amy Bryzgel, David Caines, Nati Canto, Paula Chambers, Hiuwai Chan, Anaïs Clercx, Azad Colemêrg, Camilla Conocchi, contactzone, Luciana Damiani, Jelena Dinić, Nazlı Durak, Kathryn Fischer aka Mad Kate, Dyana Gravina, Karen Kipphoff, Li Fu, Hieu Hanh Hoang Tran aka Hany Tea, Selma Hekim, Monika Janulevičiūtė, Elena Marchevska, Valentina Medda, Susan Merrick, Ashley McNaughton, Branko Milisković, Persefoni Myrtsou, Marta Nitecka Barche, Mahlet Ogbe Habte, Tanja Ostojić, Sigrid Pawelke, Vanessa Ponte, Darija S. Radaković, Rhea Ramjohn, Alejandra Robles Sosa, Bahar Seki, Sabbi Senior, Evdoxia Stafylaraki, Suncica Sido, Tan Tan, Mare Tralla, Tanya Ury, Katja Vaghi, Bojana Videkanić, Roberta Weissman Nagy, Anastasio William, Hyla Willis, Jiachen Xu, Arzu Yayıntaş, Gülhatun Yıldırım, Gizem Yılmaz aka Epifani, and Suzy van Zehlendorf, among others.

A sixty-eight minute documentary will also be on display at Depo, which follows the collective and individual performances and reflections of the participants in the “Mis(s)placed Women?” workshop which was realised (in collaboration with Performistanbul and Tarabya Cultural Academy) in Istanbul in September 2021. The workshop uses the principles of Art as Social Practice that both explores a variety of public spaces and the possibilities for temporary interventions within them, and empowers participants via a Master-class-like block seminar, a laboratory outside of an official educational institution.
As part of the exhibition, a public programme consisting of live discussions, performances, and an international community gathering of Mis(s)placed Women? participants will take place September 20-22, 2022 at Depo and across the city of Istanbul.
- September 15, 6pm – Exhibition opening at Depo
- Tuesday, September 20, 5pm – Guided tour with Tanja Ostojić in English
- September 20, 6:30pm– Artist talks and Q&A with Tanja Ostojić, Arzu Yayıntaş, and the live events participants
- Wednesday, September 21, 5-7pm Public performances at Depo
- Thursday, September 22 outdoor performances across the city 11am-4pm. Meeting point Galta Square 11am
- Saturday, October 15, 4pm, Guided Tour with Arzu Yayıntaş in Turkish
- Friday, October 21, 6pm, Guided Tour with Arzu Yayıntaş in Turkish
- Last day of the exhibition Friday, October 28, 2022.
Live events with the participation of: Gaby Bila-Gunther aka LADY GABY, Dagmara Bilon, Selma Hekim, Kathryn Fischer aka Mad Kate, Susan Merrick, Tanja Ostojić, Vanessa Ponte, Hieu Hanh Hoang Tran aka Hany Tea, Arzu Yayıntaş, Gülhatun Yıldırım, Gizem Yılmaz and Mürüvvet Türkyılmaz, among others.
For further information please visit:
Mis(s)placed Women? project blog
Misplaced Women? Video channel
Direct link to download the reader as PDF in English
TANJA OSTOJIĆ: Mis(s)placed Women? 2009-2022, A Collaborative Art Project, Reader in ENG
Direct link to download the reader as PDF in Turkish
TANJA OSTOJIĆ: Mis(s)placed Women? 2009-2022 Katılımcı Bir Sanat Projesi, reader TR
Realised with the support of:
ifa – Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen, Alumni-Fonds of the Tarabya Cultural Academy, FfAI – Foundation for Arts Initiatives, Depo Istanbul, Anadolukultur, Mis(s)placed Women? community, Performistanbul, Stiftung Kunstfonds and NEUSTART KULTUR.
