In a dreamlike state, a warm afternoon at the Bosphorus shore unveils the blue tonalities of water contrasting with swimmers dipping in to escape the heat. People congregate to enjoy the weather, the water framing the figures inside an intimate public space, with invisible walls. Taking a close glimpse, you will notice the scene contains little trace of a female presence.

In thirsty by the water, a serpent in front of me (2019), from which this scene originates, Eda Sarman fuses magic realism into the Turkish tale of the Maiden Tower. A historical landmark of the Bosphorus, the tower’s tale tells of an emperor who built a tower in the middle of the strait to hide his beloved daughter from a prophecy which told of her dying on her 18th birthday from the bite of a snake. As destiny would have it, on her 18th birthday, she dies bitten by a snake hidden in a fruit basket sent by her father to celebrate her freedom from her fatal fate.

In the weather is getting so nice (2019), confronting the tyranny of the shore, the serpent observes the men enjoying the water, where absorbed they joyously forget the power of the water and nature’s power over man.

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