You are cordially invited to Baking Books, a performative action by the Helsinki-based Turkish artist Baran Caginli symbolizing resistance against coercion and censorship.
The performance is inspired by the story of Baran Caginli’s father, who was a member of a left-wing youth organization. He was imprisoned and tortured during the military coup in Turkey in September 1980 due to his political activities. Upon learning of his son’s arrest, his grandfather traveled from a village near Kars, a city in the Kurdish region, to Istanbul to bring his son home. He took with him his son’s library of banned Marxist-Leninist books. Upon returning, he and his wife decided to burn the books in their fireplace. Because the quantity of books was so large and the prolonged burning noticeable during late summer, Caginli’s grandmother started baking bread continuously for a week and distributed it for free to the entire village.
Similarly, Baran Caginli’s breads, shaped like the faces of Lenin, Marx, and Rosa Luxemburg, will be handed out to the public during the action. This serves as a symbolic act, reminding us that resistance against any violation of human rights, against coercion and censorship, is always necessary.
In a special way, the work in Berlin not only honours the historical significance of the square where it takes place, but also tells a very personal story about the impact of political engagement. It also refers to a little-known, almost forgotten statue of Rosa Luxemburg near the square.
