This Porous Earth: Screening, Talk, and Workshop Program

This Porous Earth is a screening, talk, and workshop program at Salt Beyoğlu exploring the relationships between cinema and the natural world through the material properties of film itself.

Bringing together three thematic selections and a feature film, This Porous Earth presents experimental works that employ direct animation, hand processing, photochemical techniques, and cameraless practices to examine how moving images are shaped by environmental forces and organic matter.

The selection ‘Under the Ground’ features short films in which seawater, soil, insects, heat, and radiation directly intervene in the production of images. ‘Faces of the Earth’ focuses on works where plants, fruits, and minerals become inseparable from the film surface, while ‘Symbiosis’ presents works in which microorganisms, seeds, fungi, and handmade emulsions transform the material structure of film. The feature film Blue Monet investigates the expressive possibilities of color, light, and the moving image through alchemical film techniques.

The screenings are accompanied by talks featuring artists Edd Carr, Karel Doing, Emmanuel Lefrant, and Müge Yıldız, alongside researchers Burçin Çıngay, Mesut Kırmacı, and Alptekin Karagöz. The program also includes a workshop led by biologist and designer Meral Cidan, focusing on the production of natural dyes using plants and organic waste.

Developed in collaboration with filmmaker Yavuz Gözeller, founding director of Istanbul Experimental, and Burçin Çıngay from the Flora Research Association, This Porous Earth is programmed by Alâ Taleb from Salt. The free-admission program is open to everyone.