The act of recalling individual and social events, shaped in the past and continually reshaped, is intrinsically connected to the individual and collective psyche. Remembering the past, at both macro and micro levels, embodies a political truth that resists disavowal, for it is the foundation upon which present identities are formed in individual, collective, and institutional contexts. In this A short note, De-abstracting, my aim is to remember a specific date that relates to a critical decision I made and unavoidable my psychic connection with one of the political traumas that occurred— ‘curated,’ I would say—on the same day on this island many years ago. It is worth noting that reflecting on past decisions and actions, and the consequences they generate within post-incident contexts, reveals how such contexts shape the rhetorical identities of both individuals and collectives moving forward. In history, some incidents occurred simultaneously or happened on similar days connecting different incidents in one or another way across time. I am not surprised by the coincidence of my resignation from the full-time faculty position and the date 21st April in a different year belonging to the past and present hold many significances. Both incidents are traumatic in many ways, though I will not elaborate here, but I intend to do so in the future. It is important to address the traumatic implications of my academic decision and subsequent action, as it can generate transgenerational knowledge about art, academic practices, institutional culture, identity, and politics. It is also important to highlight how these contexts stimulate reflection on the human psyche. For me, this date reopens a sacred wound. I see a profound conceptual and material connection among these phenomena and the last session I conducted a few years ago. Apart from many directions which I am about to explore these questions, the muted atmosphere around such issues seems more rhetorical. I see a strong moment that invites discussion on how human psyche reacts to such event in the context and its consequences in post-context situations. Leaving many materials coming from different perspectives to be documented for future generation, I am intrigued to revisit the last session I conducted at the faculty where I dedicated continuously over twenty years of my life, from my undergraduate days to thirteen years as a faculty member, including the position of the head of painting department. The last session, part of the major academic series, focused on exploring the body’s underlying brutality and interior structure in contrast to its so‑called surface illusion. I think writing about these materials and traces are more important than ever before. As mentioned, I believe that such exploration can create a kind of knowledge about the relationship between personal and collective history within so called post-colonial institutional context. Therefore, by its title, A short note: De-abstracting seeks to examine this history and its complex consequences by dissecting surface illusionary materials.
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