Mehtap Baydu

The artist Mehtap Baydu (*1972, Bingöl, Turkey) has become known for her performance and installation work. She focuses on gender roles, sensitive religious and political issues in multicultural contexts. Baydu involves the audience in her performances and challenges them with symbolic objects and situations. She uses sculpture and photography as a medium alongside performance and installation to best express and communicate her artistic concerns. 

With Red Shoes, an installation and performance by the artist from 2008 and 2009, consisted of 43 pairs of red women's shoes and three three pairs of red men's shoes. The participants are given the opportunity to the opportunity to temporarily exchange their own shoes for a red shoes. As part of the performance, the constant exchange process changes the underlying installation. Over time the original structure changes its appearance appearance, at the same time the people change people change their appearance and thus their social role. The work also enters dialogue with the space. Individually people decide how strong their desire is to change their social role. Men in red women's shoes or women in men's shoes show very clearly the desire to leave familiar to leave familiar roles.