RECENT READERS / CURIOSITY AND EXPERIENCE (Turkey, 2003-2006)

With his staged photographs of adolescent girls, Nazif Topçuoglu provides a critique of Islamic society. According to him, half its human capital – namely women – is wasted because women are not permitted to acquire knowledge. With references to British boarding schools and classic painting, Topçuoglu creates a fantasy world in which everything is permitted for girls, from satisfying their curiosity to acquiring knowledge and playing erotic games. The photograph ‘Throwing the Book’ also refers to a recent event in Turkish politics: during a meeting the President threw a book containing the Constitution at the Vice Premier.