Page - 100 - in Mobile Culture Studies - The Journal, Volume 4/2018

100 Mobile Culture Studies. The Journal 4 2o18 Lora Sariaslan | The Art of Migration want to live in Germany, but I want to be buried in Turkey with my ancestors, with my family.”21 Through their work, we can see how migrants transform geographic and cultural boundaries, and how such ‘travels’ potential- ly change and challenge presupposed under- standings of identity. Servet Koçyiğit Born in Kaman (Central Anatolia), Turkey in 1971 Servet Koçyiğit resided in Ankara while studying engineering at the Middle East Technical University, and then moved to Amsterdam to study at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy (1993-1997) and later participat- ed in the De Ateliers residency (1997-1999). Mobility is a focal concept in the work and world of Koçyiğit. “When I decided to study art, I thought I should leave Turkey and find somewhere where I can learn and practice art with much less limitation,” is how the artist describes his move to the Netherlands. After 10 years, he decided to ‘look back’ to Turkey again in spite of feeling that “going back would be a step backward, but as usual in art and life nothing is that linear, a back- ward step could be a forward one”.22 During his time in Istanbul, he created pieces that would later be presented in the 9th Istanbul Biennial of 2005. The installation Blue Side Up and the accompanying photograph Eskici (Bric-a-Brac Seller) became a turning point for the artist, and foreshadowed his future production in relation to Turkey. Blue Side Up (2005) (Fig. 5) challeng- es the usual artistic presentation format, as 21 Ibid. 22 Lora Sariaslan, ‘Seeing and Sewing Maps: The Art of Servet Koçyiğit’, in Künstlerische Re-Orientierungen: Kon- texte zeitgenössischer Kunst in der Türkei und unterwegs, edited by Burcu Dogramaci and Marta Smolińska (Berlin: Kulturverlag Kadmos, 2017), 137-150. Fig. 5: Servet Koçyiğit, Blue Side Up, 2005. Exhibition view 9th Istanbul Biennial, 2005. Dimension Variable, mixed medium, mecha- nical rail system, hair. Courtesy of the artist. Fig. 6: Sometimes I check the fridge, 2005. Exhibition view 9th Istanbul Biennial, 2005. Dimension Variable, mixed medium, mecha- nical rail system, hair. Courtesy of the artist.