Issue 44 Esra Ersen The cover of this issue of Artkrush is a photograph of Rehabilitation, a site-specific installation by Esra Ersen. The project was created for the 27th São Paulo Biennial by studying the city's gangs. The resulting film and related objects are on view at the Biennial through December 17. Born in 1970 in Ankara, Turkey, Ersen graduated from Marmara University Faculty of Fine Arts and subsequently studied at the Art Academy in Nantes, France. She has had solo exhibitions in Turkey, Austria, Sweden, and Germany and has participated in group shows in dozens of countries including the US, England, Singapore, Korea, and Albania. Her work is also presently on view at the 2006 Liverpool Biennial, which continues through November 26. As with Ersen's other site-specific projects, Rehabilitation investigates a pocket of social outsiders. Ersen asked Brazilian gang members to emblazon leather jackets with their inner thoughts, which mostly centered on the corrupt Brazilian government. From the perspective of those wearing the jackets, the political regime — not the gang — is what threatens society. The 2001 film If you could speak Swedish exemplifies Ersen's ability to manipulate contexts. At a Swedish language course, she asked Indian, Russian, and Asian immigrants to express their pain, fear, and political views. When asked to read their statements translated into Swedish, they were unable to communicate anything except discomfort with the language. Ersen presented the film at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Sweden, and at Jerusalem's Grill House, a popular kebab eatery. Ersen has explored the lives of myriad misfits, ranging from felons to Africans living in Turkey. For her 2005 public artwork Testimony, inmates projected manifestos onto banners circling their prison, while Which One You Chose of the same year analyzed stereotypes of "good" and "bad" girls in Japanese culture. Ersen's intimate portraits elicit unexpected responses, as viewers find themselves commiserating with prisoners or agreeing with gang politics. (LM) Esra Ersen Rehabilitation, 2006 Installation at São Paulo Biennial Dimensions variable Courtesy Moderna Museet, Stockholm All Rights Reserved