As we passed through the arcade, our paths crossed with others. Behind the glass of the display case, traces of other encounters lingered. We stood side by side, watching them. Perhaps the crowd we saw in the window was us; we had just passed by.
Romina Meriç and Derin Ekin Kenter's exhibition "Passing" at Gallery Vitrin, their long-standing collaborative practice, takes it to a new level. The duo transforms the display case into a kind of public stage, inviting the audience to consider the texture of their multidimensional relationship with both the outside and each other.
Passing displays depictions of encounters in public spaces behind glass that rises to the ceiling of the arcade. The transparency of some of the materials used in the exhibition points to the permanence of architecture versus the permeability of crowds. This permeability, evoking the conductivity of air, is a visual reflection of the sounds echoing in the passage. Divided into two distinct parts, the left side of the presentation features a deserted passage. Paintings and prints mounted behind the right-hand glass of the display case depict groups of people engaged in everyday activities such as meeting, sitting, waiting, talking, or simply walking by. What does the fact that the right side is filled with people, in contrast to the emptiness on the left, signify? GAGGING presents a universe of possibilities as diverse as the actions of groups gathering in public spaces. This duality within the display case, like Romina and Derin's collaborative practices, may also point to the nature of mass street life: passages and other similar permanent spaces are etched in memories as meeting spaces, even while people are in constant transit.
Walter Benjamin's reflections on the display case remind us of the commodification possibilities of the exhibition approach: he speaks of the objects behind the display case losing their use value and becoming objects of imaginary desire. In the installation GAGGING, the intended relationship with the viewer behind the display case is different. The intention here is to create a space of intellectual and emotional representation through a narrative constructed through images and reflections. Behind the display case and in the reflections on it, traces of the past, as well as the possibilities of the future, are visible.
These dualities manifest not only in the display case but also in the artists' production style. Romina Meriç and Derin Ekin Kenter create a space where the introspective intuitiveness of painting intersects with the collective spirit of print, akin to reproduction. Romina's narrative, informed by personal and psychological depths, complements Derin's material- and process-oriented approach. This convergence in their practices reinforces the dual narrative of the exhibition PASSING.
As we passed through the passage, we paused once more in front of the display case. We observed the constantly re-established balances behind the glass. New connections were forged and stories diversified through the ebb and flow between the personal and the public, the instinctive and the structural, the permanent and the ephemeral, the interior and the exterior, and the obvious and the unexplained. The new encounters that followed us had already begun.
Irmak Canevi & Zeynep Beler, 2025
Romina Meriç and Derin Ekin Kenter began working together in 2021. Having met through their shared passion for printmaking, the duo began working side by side from the moment they met at Derin's studio, Derin Print Shop. They have collaborated on the etchings Rifting Bark (2021) and Rebirth (2024). They also organized the Derin Print Shop Showcase exhibition at the Cité des Arts in 2023. In addition to their collaborative projects, Derin and Romina have also made significant contributions to each other's individual productions. Among these, Romina Meriç's comprehensive monoprint series and Derin Ekin Kenter's solo exhibition, Metamorphosis, are prominent works. The duo continues to experiment with new techniques and develop joint projects.
source: https://www.goethe.de/ins/tr/tr/sta/ank/ver.cfm?event_id=27134738