Even Running

The publication both documents Judith Raum's solo-shows at uqbar, Berlin and The Return, Dublin and translates the lecture performance harmless entrepreneurs (2011), which was shown at both locations, into a book format. The works presented in the exhibitions deal with modes of production and material culture within German economic imperialism in the Ottoman Empire during the early 20th century. They reveal moments of improvisation and makeshift solutions within the construction of the Baghdad Railway, a continental route of transport, which was supposed to make the resources and markets of Anatolia accessible for a variety of German businesses. The publication contains the complete lecture performance script, historical correspondences from archives in Germany and Turkey documenting the attempt of a technical and entrepreneurial instrumentalization of material and landscape carried out under the leadership of Deutsche Bank, photographic archival material as well as essays by Suhail Malik on Raum’s work revealing the interdependence between early forms of globalized trade and modern international-financial-statehood, and a reflection by Jonathan Carroll on the precariousness of form in Raum’s installations.

Even running refers to a statement by the owner of a German cotton production company founded in South-Eastern Anatolia by Deutsche Bank. In one of his monthly reports, he expresses dissatisfaction with local production methods, but reassures the board of directors that the new machines acquired will guarantee a more consistent cotton quality called even running.