Pigeon House Memorial

Hi up in a rock in Mustafa Pasha, Cappadocia there is a cave. The cave was used a very long time ago by people to hide from enemies as is demonstrated by the circular rock that could be rolled in front of the cave entrance from the inside. The people who have created this hiding place have been forgotten among the Hittites, Greeks, Romans, Armenians, Assyrians, Jews and many others who have lived and been displaced from this land by the next wave of invaders. When the Turks came here they made a pigeon house carving out niches for their pigeons that they used as couriers, food and whose droppings they used as fertilizer. If the pigeons are not fed by the Turkish farmers they leave the pigeon house. I used this empty space as a memorial to those who have had to hide or flee for their lives in this area. I created 83 winged clay figures - each a portrait of a Turkish, Greek, Jewish, Armenian or Assyrian child. Each portrait was based on a Neolithic winged deity. When the candles are lit and the shadow from the figure plays inside the niches it resembles a live birds movements.