Page - 98 - in Mobile Culture Studies - The Journal, Volume 4/2018

98 Mobile Culture Studies. The Journal 4 2o18 Lora Sariaslan | The Art of Migration see (in this case the steam). Reminding us of Mieke Bal’s analyses how ‘facing’ operates visually, socially and metaphorically, where she eventually proposes dialogic ‘interfacing’ to be the basic principle of intercultural contact as well as a universal foundation for identity and subjectivity. In Bal’s own words, “instead of ‘to be is to be perceived’ and ‘I think, therefore I am,’ fac- ing proposes, ‘I face (you), hence, we are.”’16 Tur toys with what to show and what to hide, encouraging the audience to consider the moment and the eternal existential ques- tion. He lets us ponder the extent to which our sense of (cultural) self is an active inner dialogue of comparison and affinity. Anny and Sibel Öztürk The work of Anny and Sibel Öztürk looks directly at the topic of migration and mo- bility through the lens of the Gastarbeiter. Officially starting with bilateral recruitment agreements in 1961, the influx of guest workers was initially a business transaction between states, originally aimed at recruiting a foreign work force for Germany, Austria, and the Neth- erlands for a limited period of time with the notion that they would be ‘guests’ and eventually return to their country of origin. However, this ‘transactional migration’ in post-war Europe transformed all the countries involved economically, politically, socially, psychologically, and artistically as the duration of stay went beyond the desired period, and as the ‘guests’ brought over their families, and settled in their new ‘homes’.17 What is of specific interest is how mi- gration with its results as a social and economic phenomenon has recently been represented through the prism of contemporary art. The subject of Gastarbeiter creates the crux of Behind the Wheel (2003) (Fig. 4) by Anny and Sibel Öztürk. In this installation, the sisters depict the annual trips back to Turkey. Outside is brought inside, and the older model Mercedes Benz with Offenbach license plate is placed in the exhibition space, with its rooftop luggage carrier packed with suitcases and a rolled up carpet on top. The vehicle’s interior is decorated with streamers, doilies, blankets, and pillows. One can hear music alongside voices and laughter that remind us of the absent travelers. With maps illustrating the route, drawings (gouaches of moments in the journey), texts on the walls (speaking of longing for the grandfather, the south, the sea), this story tells of the communal experience among the Gastarbeiter, presenting us a (re) creation of an annual journey between Germany and Turkey. Through this work, the Öztürk sisters turn their family trips into a collectively shared experience and memory, and their expe- rience and memory into an art installation. Although Behind the Wheel might be viewed as a typical work created by the daughters of guest workers, it is an exception as the two sisters Anny and Sibel Öztürk have a rather different 16 Moslund et al.,13. 17 Sariaslan 2016. Fig. 4: Anny and Sibel Öztürk, Behind the wheel, 2004. Installation. Courtesy of the artists.