Hands Made

“The hand is the window to the mind,” wrote Immanuel Kant, and Richard Sennett urged that we only pass through this window when we have sufficiently studied the hand. 

In “Hands Made”, the visitors’ hands take centre stage. Separated from the rest of the body, but in close proximity to each other, they are the focus of speculation about the past and future of hands, handwork and the sense of touch. What have these hands been involved with and what will they do in the future? Who or what will they touch? 

We touch the world, and in touching it, we distance ourselves from our surroundings or create relationships of closeness and intimacy  increasingly mediated by technologies. Begüm Erciyas explores the capacity of touch by focusing on hands. Set against the backdrop of the former viscose factory in St. Pölten, a monument to manual labour, “Hands Made” invites us to reconsider our relationship with our hands throughout history and to imagine their role in a future society. 

During her studies of molecular biology and genetics in Ankara, Begüm Erciyas was already involved in various dance projects in Turkey. Later she studied choreography. Today she lives in Berlin and Brussels. Since 2015, Begüm Erciyas has been develo­ping transdisciplinary formats that invite the singular audience member to be alone with the work. The tension between isolation and togetherness is always a central theme. Her work has been presented at the Kunstenfestivaldesarts in Brussels, the Münchner Kammerspiele, the Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers and PACT Zollverein, among others. From 2021 to 2026 she is artist-in-residence at deSingel Antwerp.