Departing from the idea that belonging is not solely a mental construct but also a bodily experience, the exhibition explores how the body is shaped within different contexts, what it transforms into, and the networks of relations in which it is situated. At its core, the exhibition poses the question:
How does the feeling of belonging affect the body?
In this framework, the body is situated not as a passive vessel, but as a subject shaped by — and simultaneously shaping — societal norms, memory, environment, and cultural codes. Here, the body is not seen as an isolated entity, but as a notion that gains meaning within a web of relations.
Through diverse practices, the eight participating artists establish a temporary yet impactful sense ofbelonging within Martch Art’s gallery space. Their works go beyond fixed notions of identity andorigin, proposing belonging as a state of being, a condition of transition, of exposure, and also ofinfluence.
Through the metaphor of water, the narrative invites us to a temporal homecoming: the initial stateof existence in the womb, the vibration of life within a single cell, the evolutionary movementbeginning in primordial oceans, or a shared origin formed through cosmic energy. Water appears asa medium of transformation— sometimes in the salty memory of the sea that once carried life onto land, sometimes in the first sip of milk, in amniotic fluid, or within the unknowable depths of a dark ocean. In this exhibition, the body is not merely the bearer of belonging, but also an interface that it
redefines. The sense of belonging becomes tangible through connections to objects, identities relationships, or geographies. This sentiment echoes within lullabies, manifests in the sameness of multiplying bodies, or is represented through identity-laden objects, people and the effort to form bonds across distant lands.
