A Gökbörü Is Born at Dolmabahçe

Oil on canvas, 100 × 150 cm, 2022

This work addresses moments of historical transformation and the symbolic forms they assume within collective memory. Dolmabahçe Palace is conceived not merely as a place of residence or representation, but as a cultural threshold—where one period gives way to another, and shifts in mindset become visible. The figure of the Gökbörü, associated in Turkic mythology with orientation, awakening, and guidance, replaces the human face, distancing the image from individual narrative.

The relationship between figure and architecture generates a forward-looking gaze rather than a retrospective one. Light functions as a structuring element, framing transformation not as a fixed outcome but as an open-ended process. Rather than depicting a historical figure, the work gestures toward a shared sense of direction and the ongoing necessity to rethink collective memory.