Begüm ERCIYAS

Profile 

Begüm Erciyas (1982, Turkey) is choreographer by training. She is now living between Berlin and Brussels and making transdisciplinary performances in which the role of the audience is central. Between 2021 and 2026, she is artist-in-residence at DeSingel Antwerp.

About works / performance

Since 2015, Begüm has been developing transdisciplinary formats, which go beyond the frontal blackbox setting. Some of these works invite the audience to be in complete solitude and to simultaneously perform and listen. In this way, they facilitate an alienated view on something personal, such as listening to one's own voice (Voicing Pieces (2016)), or an intimate situation with something foreign, such as a conversation with an artificial voice (Pillow Talk (2019)). Most recently, Begüm started developing formats in public space, which focus on the challenges of coming together (Letters from Attica (2020), Forest Silent Gathering (2022). These works consider “togetherness” as a task rather than as a given. The tension between isolation and togetherness remains a central topic.