About
I am a performing artist and curator from İstanbul, currently based between İzmir and London.
With a background in contemporary dance, theater and political science, my work is an exploration between performance and socio-political commentary, weaving personal and collective narratives and conversations. Conversation is at the heart of my research practice. By creatively engaging with artists and cultural actors, I seek to create meaningful encounters that reflect the complexities of contemporary artistic practices. I often explore themes of displacement, identity, and the ephemeral nature of human connections to create immersive experiences that challenge and engage audiences. My artistic and curatorial practice approaches performance as a site of knowledge production and political engagement, emphasizing the transformative potential of art in reflecting and shaping cultural landscapes. My works take different shapes blending narrative and performativity to provoke thought and dialogue. Weaving connections with lost (hi)stories, fugitive peoples, smuggled goods and cast away (artistic) practices is where my research interest takes place -mostly in the form of performance and writing.
I am co-founder of tibia x fibula where we create live experiences and other things across disciplines and A Corner in the World where we create events/content at the intersection of arts, culture and social sciences. I am also İzmir coordinator of Spaces of Culture, advisory committee member for Komünitas İzmir, expert committee member of FANAK Fund and a Mophradat grants selection committee member in 2020.
Before that, I co-founded Studio 4 Istanbul company making work for theater and film as well as the award-winning Köşe performance space in the Yeldeğirmeni neighborhood of Kadıköy, İstanbul. My work has been seen in Theater Freiburg, TheaterFormen (GER), Julidans (NL), PS122 (USA), Untimely Festival (Iran), BIPOD (Lebanon) and İstanbul Theater Festival among others. My artistic collaborations include those with award-winning companies such as garajistanbul, TalDans and İstanbul National Theater. I was resident co-curator at bomontiada ALT in İstanbul from 2017 to 2019 and performance curator with Darağaç in İzmir in 2020.
I have taught at universities and other institutions including Haliç University, Eskişehir University and Center for Contemporary Performing Arts at Istanbul Municipal Theater.
I am recipient of Direklerarası New Space Manager Award (2015), New Theater Magazine Contribution to Turkish Language / Best Translation Award (2018) and a nominee for New Theater Magazine Beklan Algan Actor Award (2014).