Newold europe

Series of objects, fiberglass, mineral coating, pigment, metal, 2026
Screen prints, 2026

"Even on the European side of Istanbul, Europe has long been perceived as a distant geography. That distance has only increased as Europe has hardened into a frontier union. Situated on the Asian side of the metropolis, the project seeks to reimagine European borders as more elastic. However, to do so, one has to trace a deep past. The work draws on the Neolithic to recover more generous forms of collective space and life, known through cultural remains such as clay models and figurines. Found at sites stretching from the Danube Valley to Anatolia, these remains belong to what the archaeologist, prehistorian, and anthropologist Marija Gimbutas** identified as “Old Europe.” This prehistoric culture appears new and worth striving for not only because it decenters Europe by shifting its origins to southeastern Europe and Anatolia, but also because it was more egalitarian, heterarchical, peaceful, and highly developed.

newold europe displays two prehistoric temples as overscaled objects and reconstructs them as keychains or handbag charms. Originally modeled in clay, these communal houses served not only as sites for ritual celebrations but also as shared workshops where textiles, household items, and tools were collaboratively produced. They fulfilled a myriad of other functions, from baking bread to serving as places for birth. Such architectures represent the proto-public spaces of societies that developed from 6500 B.C. onward. They echo the egalitarian relations, limited wealth, and minimal status differences of these societies, as well as their collective cultural practices.

Within these Neolithic societies, women* played a significant role in evolving a culture based on the cyclical concept of time, regeneration, and profound connection to nature. Their culture persisted well into the second millennium B.C.; however, beginning around 3500 B.C., it was gradually destroyed by multiple waves of invasion from patriarchally organized Indo-European tribes.

The small keychains and handbag charms refer to Goddess figures, dating from 6500 to 5000 B.C. The Goddess was seen as a force manifested in various forms: a material condensation of life cycles, a symbol of birth, death, and regeneration, or an interface between human time and cosmic time. The figurines display bird attributes (symbolizing life, death, and the sky), egg-shaped buttocks, and often exaggerated breasts and hips – symbols of abundance and continuity. Some feature horns, while others appear almost alien-like. They all originate from "Old Europe," spanning present-day Hungary, Crete, Anatolia, Macedonia, and Ukraine.

newold europe echoes this Neolithic culture through a temporal and geographical shift of Europe. With it, Mahall and Serbest present a counter-history that is usually hidden behind the dominant and naturalized narrative of a patriarchal Indo-European lineage. Through shifts in the scale, they transform the clay fragments into both political monuments and intimate, everyday charms – objects that can be taken away and mobilized as speculative means to think otherwise about the present.

** Mahall and Serbest's insights into Neolithic societies are indebted to Marija Gimbutas (1921-1994), a Lithuanian-American archaeologist, prehistorian, and anthropologist. Through her extraordinarily systematic research, she developed an extensive reconstruction of the social conditions within settled Neolithic villages across the Balkans and the eastern Mediterranean, extending into parts of Central and Northern Europe prior to the Indo-European migrations. Gimbutas argued that these societies were characterized by egalitarian social relations, minimal wealth and status differences, and a cultural framework in which women and men were equally valued. Central to her work was an interdisciplinary methodology combining archaeology, linguistics, ethnology, and the history of religion. She could read texts in thirteen languages enabling her to synthesize material culture, mythological motifs, and linguistic patterns across vast regions and historical periods. Following her death, her work faced decades of sharp critique and dismissal from large parts of the archaeological establishment. Her interpretations –particularly those concerning gender relations and social organization– were often rejected as speculative or ideologically driven. However, this reception has begun to shift with the emergence of new scientific techniques, such as ancient DNA analysis.

By bringing the temporal and geographic margins of Europe to the forefront of the narrative of Western civilization, Gimbutas challenged the dominant Eurocentric genealogies. In this sense, her work on "Old Europe" can be understood as negotiating European belonging from the perspective of historically marginalized regions and times. Read today, her work provides a valuable perspective on anti-hegemonic feminist debates, particularly regarding cultural appropriation, Eurocentrism, and the politics of origin narratives."

As a part of PresentAbsent, curated by Merve Elveren and Meriç Öner, at YUNT from October 11, 2025, to August 16, 2026.

Yunt, Istanbul, 2026

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