Derya Akay (born 1988) is a Turkish artist based in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Akay has held numerous solo and group exhibitions in Canada,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

U.S The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

., and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. In 2010, Akay graduated from

Emily Carr University Emily Carr University of Art + Design (abbreviated as ECU) is a public art university located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The university's campus is located within the Great Northern Way Campus in Strathcona. The university is a co-e ...

and completed a residency at the

Banff Centre Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, formerly known as The Banff Centre (and previously The Banff Centre for Continuing Education), located in Banff, Alberta, was established in 1933 as the Banff School of Drama. It was granted full autonomy as ...

Work

Derya Akay's artistic practice involves community organizing, gathering, cooking, food and knowledge sharing, gardening, performance, and installation. Akay often uses tableware, textiles, food, and organic material in installations and performances with a focus on feminized and collective labour, while using intimate and domestic spaces such as kitchens, gardens, and bedrooms to showcase his work. Akay's mother, Dilara Akay, is an activist and artist. They collaborated on ''Ghost Spring'' (2018), a work about the political upheavals in Turkey and the loss of loved ones, installed and performed at Mountain View Cemetery in Vancouver, Canada, in association with

grunt gallery The grunt gallery is a Canadian artist-run centre, founded in 1984 and located in Vancouver, British Columbia. They show work by both indigenous and non-indigenous artists. History Established in 1984, and founded by Glenn Alteen, Kempton Dexte ...

Recent Exhibitions and Projects

Akay has collaborated with artists such as

Haruko Okano Haruko Okano (born March 26, 1945) is a process-based, collaborative, multidisciplinary, mixed-media artist, poet, community organizer, and activist based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Life Haruko Okano was born in Toronto, Ontario. She is a ...

, T’uy’t’tanat Cease Wyss,

Julia Feyrer Julia Feyrer (born 1982) is a Canadian visual artist, performer, and writer based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Life and education Feyrer was born in Victoria, British Columbia. They obtained a Bachelor of Media Art at the Emily Carr Institute ...

, and

Anne Low Anne Low (b. 1981) is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Montreal, Canada. She uses sculpture, installation, textiles and printmaking to explore the relationship of historical contexts of contemporary functional objects and themes that occur, suc ...

. * ''Queer Dowry'' (2022)'', What Water Knows, The Land Remembers'', Toronto Biennial of Art * ''Looking at the Garden Fence'' (2021), with Vivienne Bessette and Garden Don't Care artist collective at Sahalli Park Community Garden, Elisabeth Rogers Community Garden, Harmony Garden X̱wemelch’stn pen̓em̓áy * ''Meydan'' (2021), Polygon Gallery * ''The Neighbours Plate'' (2020), with Dana Qaddah and Amna Elnour, Unit 17 * ''Green Grocer'' (2018), Unit 17 * ''Vancouver Special: Ambivalent Pleasures'' (2016),

Vancouver Art Gallery The Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) is an art museum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The museum occupies a adjacent to Robson Square in downtown Vancouver, making it the largest art museum in Western Canada by building size. Designed by Franc ...

References

{{Reflist Living people 1988 births Turkish artists Emily Carr University of Art and Design alumni