When Kadir
“Amigo” Memiş dances, stages a production or draws, he summons his
creativity from memories of his childhood. He grew up as a shepherd in
a village of 300 souls in Anatolia and joined his parents in Berlin in
1984.
It was then that
Amigo found his way into hip-hop culture and breakdance.
Like an urban
nomad, he gathered impressions of the city and began to translate them
into movements. Today he is best known as a dancer, choreographer and
founder of the internationally acclaimed hip-hop group Flying Steps. In
Germany, he was one of the first to combine hip-hop with other
elements. For example, in his production Zeybreak, he mixed elements of
the traditional Turkish folk dance zeybek with breakdance to create
Zeybreak.
After graduating
from high-school, Amigo trained as a technical draftsman, a profession
that demands a great deal of precision. This experience was later
reflected not only in his perfectly rehearsed sequences of movement,
but also in the calligraphy that he has been producing for more than
thirty-two years. Impulsive yet thoughtful, the black lines of his
drawings seem to move in different directions, forming circles and
setting points. Like the movements in his choreographies, the lines in
Amigo’s calligraphy always strive for a form in which intuition and
reflection are in harmonious accord with one another. The boundaries
between performance and visual art increasingly blur in his work.
In addition to
his dance productions, Memiş has been active in the street art scene
for many years. In 2003, together with artists such as Banksy,
Obey, Swoon, Akim, Datagno and others, he was part of Backjumps – The
Live Issue, an exhibition project in Berlin that was one of the first
in Europe to explore interfaces of street art, aerosol culture and hip
hop, and to present the contemporary developments of the various art
forms. The starting point of the show was the international network of
artists and activists that was established in 1994 by Adrian Nabi and
the magazine Backjumps, which Nabi founded. A big influence on Memiş
has been the Berlin writers Akim,
Zast and Tagno of the legendary Jazzstyle
Corner / Diamonds Crew.
Kadir
“Amigo” Memiş is an Alumni of the Tarabya Cultural Academy Istanbul.
1974 - born in Turkey 1984 - came to Berlin 1993 - Co founder of the Flying
Steps Crew Berlin (www.flyingsteps.com) 1994 - Mete Eksi Price -
Naunynstrasse Berlin 1995 - CARTEL Tour (Choreograph) -
21 Cities in Turkey 2000 - B.O.T.Y. - four times
Worldchampion in Breakdance with „Flying Steps“ 1998 - Pina Bausch Theater
Performance (with Niels Storm Robitzky) 2004 - Co founder of Funkin’ Stylez
Battle (www.funkin-stylez.com) 2005 - Backjumps Streetart
Exhibition in Kunsthaus Bethanien, Berlin 2006 - Triple Destan, Tanznacht
Berlin, Akademie der Künste (Jazzstylecorner Berlin) 2008 - Light Writing Session with
Chris Noelle - TOFA (Tresor) 2009 - Zeybreak - Ballhaus
Naunynstrasse, Berlin 2010 - Hip Hop Research Program -
Kennedy Center / Arts Department, NYC, DC, Phil. 2011 - Honored by : SUB - Street
University Berlin - Street Master Price (Gio de Sera) 2011 - Translation Hip Hop - Haus
der Kulturen Berlin 2014 - Red Bull Anadolu Break -
Direct and Choreography (Turkey) 2016 - TEDx Talk in Istanbul about
Zeybreak Dance (Turkey) 2017 - A part of the Streetart
Exhibition - THE HAUS (www.thehaus.de) 2017 - Urban Nation Museum Opening
Choreography - Berlin 2017 - Movement of Letters Lecture -
at Tag Convention - FU Berlin 2018 - Back to Zero / A homage to
the graffiti scene - HAU1 Berlin 2019 - Grand for Kulturakademie
Tarabya Istanbul (Januar - April) 2020 - Urban Nation Museum - HYBRID
SCULPTORS „its nothing without you“ 2020 - Bleib aufm Teppich - ReTramp
Gallery Berlin 2021 - Opferschicht- Narben und
Namen, HAU Hebbel am Ufer (Berlin).
Hauptstadtkulturfonds (HKF)
