ENŪMA ELIŠ
Romane Iskaria explores myth and reality in her photographic series “Enūma eliš” (When up high), an initiatory journey to Mesopotamia.
This series accompanies a group of 30 young people on a reverse migration journey to Tur Abdin, in Turkey on the border with Syria, a region where their parents and grandparents had emigrated in the 1980s. For most, it is a return to their roots, a first immersion in the villages of their ancestors, where time seems to have stopped.
Through her images, Romane questions the feeling of belonging and the notion of territory. These young Europeans rediscover the places their families left, while entire families, from Sweden or Germany, are trying to rebuild decades later.
Romane also developed this work with photographs printed on a mixture of stone and plaster reminiscent of the white stone of Turkey "keyfo halyo", evoking the persistence of a community in search of landmarks on disputed ancestral lands.
The title “Enūma eliš” refers to a Babylonian mythological poem composed at the end of the 12th century relating the creation of the world engraved on nine tablets, thus inscribing this series in a dialogue between myth and memory, symbolism and reality.
Turkey, 2022-2023
Photography sculpture on plaster, unique piece, various size
Enuma Elis, film 15 minutes
Ttissus installation collaboration with Vincent Dumilieu textile designer, 2mx2m50
This series accompanies a group of 30 young people on a reverse migration journey to Tur Abdin, in Turkey on the border with Syria, a region where their parents and grandparents had emigrated in the 1980s. For most, it is a return to their roots, a first immersion in the villages of their ancestors, where time seems to have stopped.
Through her images, Romane questions the feeling of belonging and the notion of territory. These young Europeans rediscover the places their families left, while entire families, from Sweden or Germany, are trying to rebuild decades later.
Romane also developed this work with photographs printed on a mixture of stone and plaster reminiscent of the white stone of Turkey "keyfo halyo", evoking the persistence of a community in search of landmarks on disputed ancestral lands.
The title “Enūma eliš” refers to a Babylonian mythological poem composed at the end of the 12th century relating the creation of the world engraved on nine tablets, thus inscribing this series in a dialogue between myth and memory, symbolism and reality.
Turkey, 2022-2023
Photography sculpture on plaster, unique piece, various size
Enuma Elis, film 15 minutes
Ttissus installation collaboration with Vincent Dumilieu textile designer, 2mx2m50
2024 MESOPOTAMIART, Cultural Center, Sarcelles Paris (France)
2023 BEYOND, Carrefour des Arts Foundation, Brussels (Belgium)
2023 BEYOND, Carrefour des Arts Foundation, Brussels (Belgium)
Exhibition view Enuma Elis, photography on glass, different sizes, BEYOND collective exhibition, Fundation Carrefour des Arts, Brussels (BE) 2023
Exhibition view Enuma Elis, photography on plaster, different sizes, BEYOND collective exhibition, Fundation Carrefour des Arts, Brussels (BE) 2023
Exhibition view installation video on textile, Enuma Elis, BEYOND collective exhibition, Fundation Carrefour des Arts, Brussels (BE) 2023
Exhibition view Enuma Elis, BEYOND collective exhibition, Fundation Carrefour des Arts, Brussels (BE) 2023
Exhibition view, Enuma Elis, AKITU, Diaspora In Bloom, Gallery ART-ARK, San-José, (USA) 2023