Süngün sees herself as an artist with a political mission. She takes up topics on migration and identity politics in Germany in various media such as photography, sculpture, installation, and lecture performance. Her works have a documentary character, and she uses them to expose prejudices and sets decisive impulses on these topics through her artistic research.

Anlatsam Roman Olur / Die besten Romane schreibt das Leben

“Lauter Steine” (Nothing but Stones) and “Lacrimarium Europae” are part of the group of works “Anlatsam Roman Olur / Die besten Romane schreibt das Leben” (Life Itself Writes the Best Novels), which tells of the living conditions and fears of refugees in Germany. The staged photographic novel “Lauter Steine” describes the everyday life of the Georgian stonemason Sergio Pipa and his critically ill wife, Marina Tsertsvadze, who live in a refugee shelter. Sergio cuts reliefs in stones from the Lauter River, which he sells at markets to finance his companion’s medical treatment. Their hopes of a finding a therapy for Marina fail, however, because of the current asylum regulations, and they leave Germany. At this point, the documentary/realistic narrative structure shifts into the absurd/fictional. With the help of a magic file, Sergio transforms his wife into a stone object and travels back to Georgia with her in his suitcase. Süngün’s additional research on the subject of asylum flows into the installation “Lacrimarium Europae”. Various objects, pictures, and documents refer to the negotiation strategies immigrants engage to avert the threat of deportation or to have a positive impact on an open asylum process.