Fidan Humbatli, “I’m used to it”

Creation year: 2023
Performance: video, 5:49 min.
Sculpture: 120 × 189 × 75 cm
Curated by Aynur Abutalıbova
Commission by YARAT Contemporary Art Space

This work is based on Nizami Ganjavi’s “Fitnah” story. Inspired by this story, I portray the harmful effects of the habituation in society: however, not in a positive way as the poem suggests.

The “Fitnah” in my interpretation is a victim of domestic, psychological, emotional, physical, reproductive violence which she has endured for most of her life. Despite the increase and intensification of violence over the years, she no longer feels it, since she has been exposed to violence since childhood, first in her parents’ families, and then in her own.

I show that burden symbolically in the form of the Fitnah’s bull. As Fitnah’s bull gets bigger and heavier, Fitnah doesn’t realize it because she’s used to it. In this work, I want to highlight issues such as the nature of habituation, the burden society places on women, and the normalization of violence.