Exhibition Guide
Banu Cennetoğlu: right?
In right? (2022–ongoing), Banu Cennetoğlu presents thirty articles from the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights as bouquets of gold Mylar balloons. The letter-shaped balloons, usually connected more with celebration than political reflection, spell out specific articles and represent the Declaration as both lofty and vulnerable.
For right?’s presentation at MassArt Art Museum, the artist displays Article 25 which affirms the right to an adequate standard of living: housing, food, healthcare, social services, and Article 26, which declares that everyone has a right to an education. The presentation of Article 26 carries particular resonance for Massachusetts College of Art and Design—the only publicly funded independent art school in the United States—which was founded on the belief that education is both a fundamental right and a shared public duty.
Over the course of the exhibition, the helium seeps out of the balloons and the letters slowly collapse. What begins as a defined statement slowly shifts into an abstract and fragile form. The balloons’ fleeting and unstable nature suggests that the rights asserted by the Declaration are neither permanent nor self-sustaining. The question mark in the exhibition's title invites reflection on the status of these rights: Are these rights universally agreed upon? Who bears responsibility for protecting them? Who has the authority to do so?
Throughout her practice, Cennetoğlu examines how information is produced, circulated, and remembered. She asks who determines what enters public consciousness and what is allowed to disappear. Her works often unfold over extended periods. They resist fixed conclusions in favor of sustained attention. right? investigates how language is a foundation for human rights—it allows us to articulate values and endorse more just futures. But, as the balloons’ increasingly amorphous shape suggests, simply naming something does not produce the conditions to uphold it.
Presented during the United States' 250th anniversary year, right? offers not only a tribute to ideals, but also an invitation to reconsider them. Seventy-eight years after the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, countries continue to debate the meaning and scope of these rights and the values they represent. Cennetoğlu's work reminds us that human rights are not fixed inheritances. They are commitments sustained through continual practice.
Banu Cennetoğlu: right? was curated by Artistic Director Lisa Tung with Curatorial Affairs Manager Emily Edwards. MAAM’s unique and imaginative exhibitions, events, and programs would not happen without the support of the MAAM Programs! Funds initiated by gifts from Anonymous, The Jean Gaulin Foundation, The Andree LeBoeuf Foundation, and Elissa and Bill Warner. Thank you!
Article 25
- Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and wellbeing of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
- Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.
Article 26
- Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
- Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
- Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.
Banu Cennetoğlu (b. 1970, Ankara, Turkey) lives and works in Istanbul. Working across photography, installation, publishing, sculpture, and moving image, she investigates the political, social, and cultural dimensions of how information is produced, distributed, and politically instrumentalized. Her work has been presented internationally at major museums and exhibitions, including documenta 14, the Venice Biennale, and the Carnegie International.