During the performance “I Invite You Home” (20’), the kilim became both object and narrator. While holding it, I entered into a shared space of listening, where personal and collective histories could unfold. “I am more than a hundred years old. I believe I am from Cappadocia, though I cannot be sure. I do not know who made me, or whose dowry I once belonged to. I am wool, stitched by women’s hands. I was carried across the sea during the forced Population Exchange. Memory shifts as it passes through generations.” Through this gesture of holding and being held, the performance became an act of sharing a space where family memory intertwined with the stories gathered during STEP 58 | Perátis (Περάτης): Exploring the Exchanged Practices of Midwives between Cappadocia and Nea Ionia.
Curated by Eliana Otta
Photography Nuno Cassola