PODCAST
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As part of YUNT’s programme, the podcast series The Dignity of the Image prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın, was broadcast for 65 weeks. In conversation with her guests, Sayın explored the image as a form of resistance in the context of social ‘developments’. In line with YUNT’s aim of creating a space for a multivocal network of discussion and reflection among guests and listeners, the space opened up by the image in civic struggle and social solidarity, its role, and the potential it sets in motion were explored through the experience of Türkiye.
Zeynep Sayın begins the section where she addresses the intellectual background that guides the podcast broadcast with the question, “What are images capable of reminding us of?” and invites listeners to look at the world together through images, through an acoustic mirror. Sayın, who accepts the image as an “arrhythmic gap,” emphasizes that small deviations that the image can trigger can lead to big differences:
“We can do this act of warping with images. We must think of images not merely as messages, but with their own activity, their power to summon the past like a ghost, and their warnings to cut off the spark before it reaches the fuse. We can do this deflection—the Latin name for it is clinamen or declination —that is, the movement of changing direction, of diverting, this attraction.”
Sayın, who identifies the image with being in motion, emphasizes the importance of initiating a practice of thinking about the honour of the image with awareness of the political and social conditions that Türkiye and the world are facing. Drawing on a rich network of references ranging from local experiences in various parts of the world to the texts of thinkers who have influenced his own intellectual life, Sayın suggests seeing the image as “the key that unlocks resistance and thought.”
Zeynep Sayın sees podcasting as an opportunity to break away from the “fixed and linear structure of written texts.” Drawing attention to the significance of holding on to memory through sound as an act, Sayın takes the first step towards an atlas of images that offers a portrait of our collective unconscious, while deciphering the image in its various different manifestations with her guests.
The podcast series The Dignity of the Image released a new episode every Saturday, inviting listeners to join a continuing conversation around the image. The series is available on
Spotify and Apple Podcast .
Production: YUNT
Prepared and Presented by: Zeynep Sayın
Podcast Presenter: Esra Ece Kuleci
Studio: Post Office Production
Photo: Post Office Production
Original Music and Post Production: Bilgehan Turgut
Graphic Design: Dilara Sezgin
EPISODES
YUNT hosted artist Hale Tenger in the first episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. The episode traces the impact of political events that target the dignity of both humanity and nature—in Türkiye and across the globe—on Tenger’s artistic practice.
YUNT hosted artist Fatoş İrwen in the second episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. The episode explores the reflections of İrwen’s life, extending from her childhood in Sur to the Diyarbakır E-Type Closed Prison, on her artistic practice and the processes of image production.
YUNT hosted director Yeşim Ustaoğlu in the third episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Ustaoğlu’s cinema, the episode highlights the potential of confrontation to trigger change, while painting a contemporary portrait of Türkiye through the themes, characters, and images in the director’s films.
YUNT hosted artist İnci Eviner in the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. While addressing the image of the island in Türkiye's collective memory through the multi-layered visual language established by Eviner, the episode invites listeners on a journey into the depths of republican history to decipher the relationship between power and violence.
YUNT hosted director Emin Alper in the fifth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Alper’s cinema, the episode addresses the relationship between the majority and violence, providing a close look at the tensions within Türkiye’s political and social fabric.
YUNT hosted art theorist Ezgi Bakçay in the sixth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Starting from the relationship between art and activism, the episode explores the role images play in embodying social movements, using examples from Türkiye and across the world.
YUNT hosted artist Aslı Çavuşoğlu in the seventh episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Çavuşoğlu’s research-based artistic practice, the episode addresses the representation of cultural and historical phenomena, while creating space to reflect on the role that images which “speak the language of the place” can play in presenting alternative narratives.
YUNT hosted artist Taner Ceylan in the eighth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Ceylan’s artistic practice, the episode addresses the representation of nudity and invites reflection on the relationship images establish with social norms.
YUNT hosted artist Burak Delier in the ninth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Delier’s book titled Mystical Conference, the episode listens to voices from Türkiye’s recent history, creating space to contemplate themes such as life, death, disaster, fraud, technology, and memory.
YUNT hosted artist Murat Germen in the tenth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on the artistic practice of Germen, who views photography as a form of expression and research, the episode presents a contemporary portrait of Türkiye, ranging from urban transformation to participatory citizenship.
YUNT hosted author Sema Kaygusuz in the eleventh episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on the images in Kaygusuz’s works, the episode seeks ways to voice an objection to relations of domination, extending from the patriarchal culture surrounding daily life to the nerve endings of sexism and bullying.
YUNT hosted artist Hera Büyüktaşcıyan in the twelfth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Büyüktaşcıyan’s artistic practice, the episode addresses moments of historical rupture and questions the possibilities of witnessing and reconstruction.
YUNT hosted artist Antonio Cosentino in the thirteenth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. The episode sheds light on the artist’s process of image creation by exploring the reflections of urban culture, scenes of daily life, social memory, and personal memories in Cosentino’s artistic practice.
YUNT hosted author İnci Aral in the fourteenth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Aral’s latest novel titled The Death of Verda, the episode opens up a discussion on the power relations produced by patriarchy, ranging from male violence to femicide.
YUNT hosted artist Handan Börüteçene in the fifteenth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. By exploring the reflections of archaeology, geography, nature, and history in Börüteçene’s artistic practice, the episode invites listeners to contemplate the possibilities of challenging amnesia.
YUNT hosted artist TUNCA in the sixteenth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on TUNCA’s artistic practice, the episode discusses the possibilities of breaking free from the rhythm of capitalism by extending from food culture to rituals.
YUNT hosted artist Burçak Bingöl in the seventeenth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Bingöl’s relationship with ceramics, the episode invites listeners to listen to voices echoing from historical cracks, extending from decorative arts to modernism.
YUNT hosted artist İlhan Sayın in the eighteenth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Sayın’s artistic practice, the episode addresses ambiguity and creates space to reflect on the potential of the image and the breadth of its horizon of possibility.
YUNT hosted artist Fulya Çetin in the nineteenth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. The episode takes a journey through the universe Çetin establishes with leaves, branches, hair, and flowers, exploring the role images play in opening spaces of freedom.
YUNT hosted artist İhsan Oturmak in the twentieth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on the images in Oturmak’s works, the episode addresses the effects of power relations on the subject and reveals the cracks in social control mechanisms.
YUNT hosted artist Nazım Hikmet Richard Dikbaş in the twenty-first episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Dikbaş’s drawings, the episode addresses power dynamics that seep into different layers of social life and discusses ways to expand the boundaries of creative production and publicness.
YUNT hosted artist Dilek Winchester in the twenty-second episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Winchester’s works, which focus on language, translation, and alphabets, the episode brings to the agenda a discussion on the migration of images.
YUNT hosted artist Sibel Horada in the twenty-third episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Horada’s works that focus on individual and social memory, the episode invites listeners on a journey through the cartography of waterways, extending to the city and ecology.
YUNT hosted artist Silva Bingaz in the twenty-fourth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Bingaz’s artistic practice, the episode explores the image-making potential of photography, ranging from the dilemmas of the human soul to efforts to resist the hierarchy imposed by authority.
YUNT hosted artist Çağla Köseoğulları was the guest for the twenty-fifth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Köseoğulları’s works, the episode invites reflection on the possibilities of establishing new connections with the world, extending from body memory to the agency of surfaces.
YUNT hosted artist Gözde İlkin in the twenty-sixth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on the impact of the memory of fabric on İlkin’s artistic production, the episode explores the role images play in opening a realm of limitlessness, extending from family to belonging, and nature to gender.
YUNT hosted artist Gülsün Karamustafa in the twenty-seventh episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Karamustafa’s life and works, the episode discusses the impact of witnessing social events on image production.
YUNT hosted artist Köken Ergun in the twenty-eighth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Ergun’s artistic practice, the episode addresses the role images play in revealing power relations, ranging from rituals to geopolitics.
YUNT hosted artist Yaşam Şaşmazer in the twenty-ninth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Şaşmazer’s artistic practice, the episode addresses the relationship between humans and nature, creating space to think about new ways for a shared life.
YUNT hosted artist Banu Cennetoğlu in the thirtieth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Cennetoğlu’s works, the episode addresses the dilemmas of human rights discourse and practice, opening up a discussion on the authority of foundational texts.
YUNT hosted artist İz Öztat in the thirty-first episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Öztat’s artistic practice, the episode examines the possibilities of addressing meaning-making processes through play, discussing the space opened by images in criticising authority.
YUNT hosted artist Bilge Emir in the thirty-second episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Emir’s book titled When Language Touches the Other, the episode addresses the relationship established with language, opening space for a discussion ranging from the sense of belonging to nation-building, and migration to marginalisation.
YUNT hosted artist CANAN in the thirty-third episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on CANAN’s artistic practice that addresses gender stereotypes, the episode allows for thinking about the image as an activist method.
YUNT hosted artist İpek Duben in the thirty-fourth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and hosted by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Duben’s works focusing on identity, gender, and the body, the episode discusses the possibilities of making social issues visible through images.
YUNT hosted artist Yasemin Özcan in the thirty-fifth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Özcan’s artistic practice, the episode explores the image-making potential of ceramics, from migration and urbanisation to identity formation and cultural transmission.
YUNT hosted artist İnci Furni in the thirty-sixth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Furni’s artistic practice, the episode explores the transformation of the image into a dynamic element, tracing a path from gesture to the relationship established with the surface.
YUNT hosted artist Moni Salim Özgilik in the thirty-seventh episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Özgilik’s artistic practice, which spans painting, murals, installation, performance and happening, the episode opens up a space for thinking about the process through which material becomes image.
YUNT hosted publisher Ayşe Orhun Gültekin in the thirty-eighth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Gültekin’s life in publishing, the episode traces the origins of Norgunk, the publishing house’s memory and its catalogue, following the traces of images through an imaginary library.
YUNT hosted Artist, writer, and curator Emre Zeytinoğlu in the thirty-ninth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Zeytinoğlu’s artistic and curatorial practice, the episode explores processes of image-making, ranging from urban dynamics and the traces of the unseen to art history and philosophy.
YUNT hosted artist Güneş Terkol in the fortieth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Terkol’s artistic practice, the episode invites listeners to journey through an atlas of memory, from migration routes to the transmission of memory across generations and geographies.
YUNT hosted writer and poet Ferah Doğan in the forty-first episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Doğan’s literary life, the episode opens up a discussion around the limits of language.
YUNT hosted artist Neriman Polat in the forty-second episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Polat’s artistic practice, which focuses on sociopolitical issues, the episode opens up a discussion on the relationship between images, activism, and resistance, ranging from patriarchy and gender to neoliberalism and policies of dispossession.
YUNT hosted artist Emre Hüner in the forty-third episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Hüner’s artistic practice, which explores ideas of utopia, archaeology, progress and the future, the episode considers processes of image-making.
YUNT hosted artist Nermin Er in the forty-fourth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Er’s artistic practice, which focuses on exploring the limits of material, the episode opens up a discussion around the processes through which images take shape.
YUNT hosted poet Anita Sezgener in the forty-fifth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Sezgener’s literary life, the episode considers poetry as a form of resistance, moving from the individual to the collective.
YUNT hosted artist Sena Başöz in the forty-sixth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Başöz’s artistic practice, the episode explores the liberating potential of images, moving from a sense of confinement towards healing.
YUNT hosted artist Ahmet Öğüt in the forty-seventh episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Öğüt’s artistic practice, the episode explores ways of resisting mechanisms of power through images, from institutional critique to the transformative potential of positive sabotage.
YUNT hosted author Latife Tekin in the forty-eighth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Tekin’s latest novel, The Noise of Money, the episode opens up a discussion on the possibilities of resistance through images in the digital age, ranging from poverty and the world of finance to social media and artificial intelligence.
YUNT hosted poet Efe Murad in the forty-ninth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Murad’s literary life, the episode opens up a discussion on the place of the image in poetry, ranging from the materialist movement to found poetry.
YUNT hosted artist Selim Birsel in the fiftieth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. By unpacking Birsel’s conceptual language around the political and the public, the episode invites listeners on a journey through the layers of collective memory.
YUNT hosted philosopher Zafer Aracagök in the fifty-first episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Aracagök’s intellectual life, the episode explores the possibilities of thinking through images, ranging from Anti-Hamlet and neoliberalism to nano-fascism and Neanderthal capitalism.
YUNT hosted artist Arslan Eroğlu in the fifty-second episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Eroğlu’s life and works, the episode explores processes of image-making.
YUNT hosted artist Memed Erdener in the fifty-third episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Erdener’s artistic practice, the episode invites listeners to question Türkiye’s political memory and social life through images, ranging from visual hegemony to the formation of typographic man.
YUNT hosted artist İrfan Önürmen in the fifty-fourth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Önürmen’s artistic practice, the episode explores the role images play in expressing social phenomena, ranging from media visuals and screenshots to the depths of the optical unconscious.
YUNT hosted poet Şükrü Erbaş in the fifty-fifth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Erbaş’s life and works, the episode explores the potential of images to open up a new world, ranging from the personal to the social, and from folk poetry to philosophy.
YUNT hosted director Can Eskinazi in the fifty-sixth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Eskinazi’s films, the episode invites listeners to look at the undercurrents of social life in Türkiye through images, ranging from the parallax gaze to the experience of time.
YUNT hosted dancer, educator, and choreographer Aydın Teker in the fifty-seventh episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Teker’s choreographies, the episode opens up a space for rethinking the body, ranging from anatomy to movement, and from space to rhythm.
YUNT hosted artist Tayfun Erdoğmuş in the fifty-eighth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Erdoğmuş’s practice, situated at the intersection of science, art and craft, the episode creates an opportunity to consider the relationship between images, memory and time, ranging from the world of plants to chemical processes.
YUNT hosted artist Ali Kazma in the fifty-ninth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Kazma’s practice, which focuses on fundamental questions concerning the meaning and organisation of human activity, the episode explores the potential of images to open up a new world, ranging from spaces where production takes place to repetitive everyday actions.
YUNT hosted artist Ege Kanar in the sixtieth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Kanar’s practice, which focuses on the ontology of lens-based images and the mediating functions undertaken by photographs, the episode explores processes of image-making.
YUNT hosted artist Cevdet Erek in the sixty-first episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Erek’s artistic practice, the episode creates an opportunity to consider space and time, ranging from rhythm to sound, and from measurement to architecture.
YUNT hosted artist Ahmet Doğu İpek in the sixty-second episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on İpek’s artistic practice, the episode considers the potential of images to engage with the spirit of the age, ranging from urban landscapes to topography, and from natural phenomena to the sky.
YUNT hosted artist Murat Akagündüz in the sixty-third episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Akagündüz’s artistic practice, the episode explores the possibilities of breathing through images, ranging from geography to landscape, and from cartography to digital technologies.
YUNT hosted artist Ayşe Erkmen in the sixty-fourth episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın. Drawing on Erkmen’s artistic practice, the episode invites listeners to consider the possibilities of looking at the earth through images, ranging from the circulation of water to the layers of space.
The sixty-fifth and final episode of the podcast series titled The Dignity of the Image, prepared and presented by literary scholar and art theorist Zeynep Sayın, offers a detailed account of her long-term research into the recording of images. Drawing on the world of thought that shaped the podcast, the episode opens up a new discussion on the potential of images to create spaces in which to breathe.