In the United Nations headquarters in New York, behind the main stage is a green marble platform. An investigation into this theater stage is for Cihad Caner a study to see how the UN presents itself to the world. As political landscapes change, this green platform for Caner is a way not to forget: “because remembering, as well as forgetting, becomes a socially highly politicized process.” World leaders have gathered in this UN conference room since 1945 – the green stage has witnessed it all, the political theatre. In text and theater techniques, Caner wanted to make this marble a main character who tells what he has seen, a new type of work for him.

How media and visual information influence our perception of reality is a theme in Cihad Caner's research work. Started as a journalistic photographer, after graduating from the Piet Zwart Institute in 2016, he switched to visual art. Since then he has linked photography to video, sculpture, text and virtual reality. He exhibits installations in exhibitions worldwide. In I, the green marble, the marble was a strong metaphor in the opinion of the R&D committee, which was confident due to the qualitative professional practice of the artist.

In the elaboration, Caner posed a number of questions. Can you write a historical narrative from an object? And what happens to politics when it turns into theatre? Has theater and spectacle undermined politics? He started his research with a historical study, via the Ancient Greeks to Arendt and Ranciere and into modern politics and aesthetics. He discussed the script writing with peers through feedback sessions, and he feels strengthened in his writing qualities by this project. He presented the end result, a video, at Gallery Joey Ramone during the IFFR and Art Rotterdam, and online.