Hrair Sarkissian istory (No.13), 2011 Archival inkjet print Edition of 5 + 2 a.p. 150 x 190 cm Courtesy Kalfayan Galleries, Athens - Thessaloniki. The 'istory' series was first presented in the artist's solo show in 2011 at SALT Beyoglu (Istanbul, Turkey). Works from the series will be featured in 2014 - 2015 at: TATE Modern, London, UK; Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany; Staaltiche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden, Germany. In 2010 Sarkissian spent two months in Istanbul documenting the history sections of various semi-private and public libraries and archives in the city, from the Archeological Museum and Topkapi Palace Libraries to the Atatürk Library at Taksim, the Ottoman Archives in the Government Office and Garanti Bank’s Ottoman Bank Archive. Sarkissian’s own history is closely tied to these books and files, as his grandparents were forced to flee from Eastern Anatolia to Syria in 1915. The official historical narrative around this period in the Ottoman Empire, as presented since the collapse and transformation into the Republic of Turkey, is a subject of increasing debate within the Republic of Turkey.
