
Aykan Safoğlu
* 1984 in Istanbul (TR), lives and works in Vienna (AT) & Berlin (DE).
Education
2019 – ongoing
PhD in Practice, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, AT
2011-2013
Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) in Photography, Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts
at Bard College, NY, US
2008-2010
M.A. in “Art in Context”, UdK Berlin, DE
2003-2007
B.A. in “Film and TV”, Istanbul Bilgi University, TR
Stipends, Fellowships and Residencies
2020
The Practitioners Program, online residency of L’Internationale Online and PARSE
2019
Work-stipend of Stiftung Kunstfonds, Bonn, DE
Tarabya Cultural Academy, Istanbul, TR
2018
Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart, DE
Research-stipend of the Senate of Berlin (CityTax)
2016
Ashkal Alwan, Beirut, LB
Research-stipend of the Senate of Berlin (CityTax)
2014-2015
SAHA studio at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam, NL
2013
SAHA, Supporting Contemporary Art from Turkey, Istanbul, TR
2011-2013
Vehbi Koç Foundation, Stipend during the studies at Bard College, Istanbul,TR
Solo exhibitions
2020
Revolving Dreams, Kıraathane Istanbul Literature House, TR
weekend, The Pill, Istanbul,TR
2019
ziyaret/visit, Kevin Space, Vienna, AT
2016
Off-White Tulips, Ystads Konstmuseum, Ystad, SE
2013
Off-White Tulips, Uqbar, Berlin, DE
Upcoming group exhibitions
2021
39th EVA International, second phase, Limerick, IE
Group exhibitions (selection)
2020
11th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art, Gropius Bau, Berlin, DE
Porous City, Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien, Berlin, DE
2019
States of Sensing, Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart, DE
Picture This. Selected pasts, subverted facts, Budapest Gallery, HU
21st Contemporary Art Biennial – Secs Videobrasil, São Paulo, BR
50 Years New Society, nGbK, Berlin, DE
2018
Blooming Signals, Kunstraum Munich, DE
Postcards from a Human Landscape, Akademie Schloss Solitude, DE
2017
3rd Berliner Herbstsalon, Crown Prince’s Palace, Berlin, DE
Class Languages, District Berlin, DE
2016
Father Figures are Hard to Find, nGbK, Berlin, DE
THE BILL: For Collective Unconscious, Artspace, NZ
2015
Home Works 7, Ashkal Alwan, Beirut, LB
Sights and Sounds: Turkey, Jewish Museum New York, NY, US
2014
what is queer today is not queer tomorrow, nGbK, Berlin, DE
2013
Berliner Herbstsalon, Maxim Gorki Theater, Berlin, DE
2012
3rd Moscow International Biennale for Young Art, Moscow, RU
2011
Station, Konsthall C, Stockholm, SE
Screenings (selection)
2020
Message to Man International Film Festival, Saint Petersburg, RU
How Do We See (Each Other)?, bi’bak at Haus der Statistik, Berlin, DE
Rushes of Time, State of Sensind, Asian Film Archive, Singapore, SG
2019
Belonging and Comradeship, curated by Gizem Bayıksel, Pera Museum, Istanbul,TR
65th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Oberhausen, DE
2018
Queer Migrations & Diasporic Intimacies, New York University, NYC, US
Moving Stills – Affective Archives, mumok, Vienna, AT
2017
Precarious Homes, Bétonsalon – Center for Art and Research, Paris, FR
2016
62nd International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Oberhausen, DE
Dhaka Art Summit, film program curated by Shanay Jhaveri, Dhaka, BD
2015
Outfest, REDCAT, LA, US
Dirty Looks LA, Ghebaly Gallery, US
Dirty Looks NYC, Microscope Gallery, US
2014
Montreal International Documentary Festival, Quebec, CA
Stockholm Literature, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, SE
52nd New York Film Festival, NYC, US
52nd Ann Arbor Film Festival, MI, US
33rd Istanbul Film Festival, Istanbul, TR
Images Festival, Toronto, CA
2013
59th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Oberhausen, DE
Bucharest Experimental Film Festival, Bucharest, RO
Artist Talks & Lectures & Performances
2020
Artist talk moderated by Dr. Elif Akçalı, Kadir Has University, Istanbul, TR
2019
Lecture as part of Folgendes, at University of Fine Arts Hamburg, DE
Belonging and Comradeship (artist talk), moderated by Bilge Taş, Pera Museum, Istanbul, TR
Given Your Convenient Absence, with Masha Godovannaya, Kevin Space, Vienna, AT
2017
Identity and Appropriation, (panel) with Christina von Braun, Juliane Rebentisch, and Susanne M. Winterling, Kunstverein Nürnberg, DE
Borderless and Brazen, (public talk) with Gülşen Aktaş, 15th Istanbul Biennial’s public program, Pera Museum, Istanbul, TR
An imaginary conversation between Paul Thek and Aykan Safoğlu (correspondence), for the 10th March Meeting at the Sharjah Biennial 13, UAE
2016
Gülşen & Hüseyin: Screen Tests for Gender, Labor & Migration, (public talk) with Ceren Erdem, Alt – Space for art, Istanbul, TR
To Art is a Reciprocal Verb, (lecture), Ashkal Alwan,Beirut, LB
2014
My Sorrow Nightingale (performance), Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, DE
Edmund White & Aykan Safoğlu (public talk), Moderna Museet, Stockholm, SE
Camp and Queer in Turkish Cinema (panel), Istanbul Modern, Istanbul, TR
2013
Enthusiasm (a lecture performance), KAT1, Istanbul, TR
Publications
2019
Berlin Interviews, ed. by Birgit Rieger and Claudia Wahjudi, Argo Books, Berlin, DE
QUEER?! Visual Arts in Europe 1969-2019, edited by Anton Anthonissen and Evert van Straaten, Waanders Publishers, Zwolle, NL
I Wanted to Photograph You, at Schlosspost – Solitude Network, Stuttgart, DE
2018
BLOOMING SIGNALS (exh. catalog), Kunstraum Munich & Icon Verlag, Munich, DE
An Idiosyncratic Statue of Friendship, an image essay published in the third issue of QALQALAH, an editorial project by Kadist Art Foundation and Bétonsalon – Centre for Art and Research, Paris, FR
2017
Class Languages Magazine, Issue 0, Berlin, DE
2016
Looking After Sedat Looking After Jimmy, in Post-Election Artists Dossier, Grey Room Fall 2016 issue, NYC, USA
Borderless and Brazen, interview with Gülşen Aktaş by Aykan Safoğlu, for Makhzin Magazine, Feminisms Issue (Fall 2016), online
Interview by Nanna Heidenreich (in German), Frauen und Film magazine (67th issue)
2015
Pink Labour on Golden Streets.Queer Arts Practices, edited by Christiane Erharter, Dietmar Schwärzler, Ruby Sircar, Hans Scheirl. Sternberg Press. Vienna, AT
USER’S MANUAL 2.0. Contemporary Art from Turkey 1975-2015. Ed. Halil Altındere, Süreyyya Evren. Revolver Publishing, Berlin, DE
Prizes & Awards
2019
Honorable Mention, 21st Contemporary Art Biennial – Secs Videobrasil, São Paulo, BR
2014
On Screen Award, Images Festival, Toronto, CA
Kinetta Archival Film Award, 52nd Ann Arbor Film Festival, US
2013
Grand Prize of the City of Oberhausen, 59th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, DE