Kipsi
Dan Turner is an artist of Romani heritage, originally from Kent. Within his practice, Turner examines how Gypsy, Roma and Traveller cultures meet and interact with the dominant culture through the art forms of sculpture, video and painting. Working with migration maps of Roma diasporas, and using traditional crafts and occupations such as; herbalism, peg and wooden flower making, and fortune-telling – Turner re-imagines Roma past, present and future to challenge mainstream culture’s view of Roma identities.
In Kipsi, Turner has considered the transient nature of the Roma people by utilising new digital ways of working to produce a video work that carries on traditions of storytelling.
“The work is also shaped by the COVID-19 crisis and, though not directly linked to it, the piece could not have been made outside this context. It is a meditation on the past, the present and the future, reflecting and exploring how Romani Contemporary Art can support the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities and its values, and provide an alternative form of activism in tackling structural inequality.” – Dan Turner.
The work was presented online as a live performance (and its recording) and is also shown at Worcestershire County Museum, within its Vardo Gallery of traditional wooden Gypsy caravans. Siting the work within a Vardo wagon opens a window, and reveals a different time, space, and memory, blurring historical and contemporary Roma experiences together.
Watch the performance here.
About the artist
Dan Turner
Dan Turner is an artist and educator from London, a Romani born in Kent. Dan trained at St Martins School of Art where he completed a BA Honours Degree in Fine Art (Sculpture). He works across media, including sculpture, video and painting.
Dan’s practice explores the interaction between Romani and mainstream culture through themes of commercial interchange in Romani life. He is interested in how human life can be defined and archived through made objects, and how these objects communicate across timelines through a shared ‘material’ culture and articulate that culture to a wider audience.
Using transactional objects which have significance across both cultures, Turner examines how Gypsy, Roma and Traveller cultures meet and interact with the dominant culture. Working with migration maps of Roma diasporas, and using traditional crafts and occupations such as herbalism, peg and wooden flower making, and fortune-telling, Turner re-imagines Roma past, present and future to challenge mainstream culture’s view of Roma identities.
His work Seeds of Healing was shown in FUTUROMA at the Venice Biennale 2019.
Image: Dan Turner, Kipsi. Meadow Arts digital commission 2021.