Luka Toprak
Places in the In-Between

The soundscape uprooted  (duration: 8:30 minutes) is a collective soundscape amplifying the experience of an uprooted being. Memory. Present. Longing. Be-longing. The Pavement of a new city scented with the perfumed soundscape of another. Up-rooted and rooted. All at once. Memory and present, the internal and the external experience of an uprooted being, mingling in this soundscape. uprooted reflects on the fluid experience of being in a German city, while one part of the being is trapped in memory. The memory contains sound, chatter, feelings that are different from the present soundscape of the city. It is like being in one place but never whole, because part of the being is elsewhere, in a home left behind, in a mothers embrace far away, in the narrow alleys of a souq, whereas the physical shell wanders the labyrinths of a German pavement. A body in exile, the inner and outer experiences blending in one. How does it sound? How does it feel?

Luka Toprak (*1997) is a German-Kurdish artist based in Munich whose transmedial practice spans performance, textile, painting and sound. She is currently studying at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich in the performance class of Prof. Alexandra Pirici and has a background in Middle Eastern Studies, Theatre Studies and Islamic Art History (B.A.). Her training includes dance education at Tanzfabrik Berlin and contemporary dance studies with Motimaru Dance Company (Berlin), Minako Seki (Japan), Omar Rajeh (Lebanon), Bassam Abou Diab (Lebanon) and the Cairo Contemporary Dance Center (Egypt).

Luka’s recent works include her solo exhibition The 99 Names of Love at Habibi Kiosk, Munich, and the performance project Gnosis at Gasteig Munich (2023), which received funding from Kulturreferat Munich. She has also initiated public space interventions such as ذكريات ولي .هناك من أنا and Branches of an Oak Tree (both 2024). Alongside her artistic practice, she has contributed writings on performing arts, including articles for DANCE Festival Munich (2023).

Shaped by a life between two cultures and languages, Luka’s work explores themes of exile, belonging, identity, war trauma, healing, memory and the tension between rooting and uprooting in urban environments. She envisions her practice as a space for encounter, deep reflection and collective healing.