A Women’s Memorial stands in juxtaposition to the trophies of war that line the historic square in Istanbul’s Hippodrome. According to UN statistics, 15% of women in Turkey are victims of child marriage, and 38% of women have reported sexual and/or physical violence by an intimate partner at least once in their lifetime.1 The memorial aims to acknowledge the mistreatment of women in a significant public space.

A Women’s Memorial in the Hippodrome exposes parts of Istanbul’s mask. Inspired by the inverted Medusa capital from a column in the ancient Roman cistern, the upturned head reads as a symbol for the subverted, condemned, and repressed female psyche. In contrast, the water in the cistern inspired themes of purification and allusions to the subconscious. The drawings encapsulate the feminine theme of ornament typically confined to interior space and suggest subverting this dynamic by bringing decoration to the public realm as a symbol of empowerment. With Medusa upright, ornament in the public realm, and water as a symbol of purification, the focus on duality asks how polarities can coexist.  

The Egyptian hieroglyphs in the drawings represent the ancient Obelisk of Pharaoh Thutmose III taken by the Roman emperor Theodosius in 4th Century A.D and placed in Constantinople’s Hippodrome. In this way, the stock image collage represents the falsity of image ideals founded on exploitation.