Atelier 97cm Biography

Their handcraft-centric art work is an homage to controversies, blurring the lines of thinking and feeling, science and mysticism, tradition and innovation, handmade and luxury goods, perfection and imperfection. Transforming paradigms, materials, space, and time into works that invite beholders to reflect and feel is what pervades their approach. Their installations are very personal emphasising the complexity of human consciousness in order to unravel a better understanding of the self.

When they first met both of them were working in retail in the city of Frankfurt. With Illya being Jewish and Mehmet growing up Muslim, they exchanged extensively about their cultural heritage and religion-related influences throughout their shifts. They were both very passionate about photography which led them to gather impressions of religious elements and their ambiguous complexity on a personal level. This led to their first published project called "Enlightment" (Aufklärung), which serves as a reminiscences to their cultural imprints and source of communication up to this point.

Due to their strong connection with the fashion industry the duo began building the bridge between art and fashion at an early stage and created exclusive fashion pieces deeply rooted in the narratives of their art work. A young local fashion and art scene surrounding them as well as renominated media growingly caught attention and 97cm became a multi-layered brand construction throughout the last couple of years.

Their latest projects focus on a holistic view of the world. The artists are researching in various fields and times for knowledge and wisdom in order to better connect people with each other and with nature - to get to know and understand themselves and the universe better.

With new and future works and installations consisting of earth, stones and other elements, the artists address questions like where are we from and where are we going? What can we create and what was created? What can learn from and with nature and how we can bring this forgotten consciousness as experiences into our modern everyday life.

Ocula | 2020