Between Delicate and Violent

Artists call it “hand memory,” knowledge that isn’t stored in the brain but in the body, and is activated when you start painting, sculpting or drawing. Şirin Bahar Demirel sets out to get an understanding of it. She wonders what memories are passed on through the hands, and whether we can read the aggressive nature of a painter from their brushwork, or the desires of a textile artist from their embroidery.

Demirel’s journey of discovery along the boundaries between knowing, remembering and creating is an experimental blend of staged film, archive footage and animation. Photos from her own family album play a central role. They are also stores of remembrance, but certain memories—of domestic violence and the trauma that it leaves festering for generations—have been left out of the album. By editing the photos and bringing them to life, the filmmaker endeavors to tap into the underlying invisible layers.