Cengiz Mengüç, 2023

What does shopfront signage tell us about a neighbourhood and its businesses? Graphic designer Cengiz Mengüç sees such advertisements as personal expressions by shop-owners, which help forge the identity of a neighbourhood. However, as a result of municipal policy aimed at curbing their ‘proliferation’, the wide variety of signs is increasingly disappearing from our streets. In his work he sings the praises of the visual wealth seen over the years along Pretorialaan. Drawing on his appreciation of visual culture on the street to reveal its history and stories, he invites us to view the streetscape as a living archive.

Cengiz Mengüç is a graphic designer and visual artist with a strong interest in architecture and the visual culture of the everyday.