Didem Özbek (born in 1970) is a conceptual artist,

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

and

graphic designer A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming ...

, living and working in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. She studied at

Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University (, or MSGSÜ) is a public art university in Istanbul, Turkey. The university's campus is located in the Fındıklı, Beyoğlu. The university was established in 1882 under the leadership of Osman Hamdi Bey. Hi ...

in Istanbul and gained her MA in

Communication Design Communication design is a mixed discipline between design and information-development concerned with how media communicate with people. A communication design approach is concerned with developing the message and aesthetics in media. It also crea ...

Central Saint Martins Central Saint Martins is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art university in London, England. The college offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of short ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Practice

Özbek's artistic practice is

research Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

based. She develops conceptual art projects and works with installation, performance, limited edition artist book and printed material that encourage the participation of the audience. Her work deals explores the impact

migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

has on demography,

identity politics Identity politics is politics based on a particular identity, such as ethnicity, Race (human categorization), race, nationality, religion, Religious denomination, denomination, gender, sexual orientation, Socioeconomic status, social background ...

, global economic changes,

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

and belonging. Her work has been shown internationally, in spaces such as Umetnostna Galerija Maribor (2006),

Frieze Art Fair Frieze Art Fair is an annual contemporary art, contemporary art festival, art fair first held in 2003 in London's Regent's Park. Developed by the founders of the contemporary art magazine ''Frieze (magazine), Frieze'', the fair has since expan ...

(2008), Museo Madre, Napoli (2009), The Armory Show New York (2009),

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery in London, housing the United Kingdom's national collection of international Modern art, modern and contemporary art (created from or after 1900). It forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Live ...

(2010), and the Asia Triennial Manchester (2011),

Gwangju Biennale The Gwangju Biennale is a contemporary art biennale founded in September 1995 in Gwangju, South Jeolla province, South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half ...

“Facing Borders” (2018), curated by Gridthiya Gaweewong. She was invited to panels like the round table Manifestation annullée at Centre Pompidou Paris together with Banu Cennetoglu and Halil Altindere. In 2006, she co-founded ''PiST/// Interdisciplinary Project Space'' in Pangalti together with photographer Osman Bozkurt – organising exhibitions, talks, screenings, discussions, publications, and performances by collaborating with local and international art professionals, "a catalyst for a dialogue among other artist run/alternative spaces. Rather than being a closed box, PiST/// seems to be functioning as an open platform, where artists, administrators, curators get together and discuss". ''PiST'' was also co-hosting an international research and production residency program for artists from

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

and the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in collaboration with '' The Danish Arts Agency'' and ''Fonds BKVB / Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture''.

Projects

2011: ''Life in the UK / Balance of Probabilities'', a commission for the Asia Triennial in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, Castlefield Gallery 2012: ''He was working on a project in order to open a watermelon exhibition'', a series of installations, performances and a talk-marathon, SALT Galata in Istanbul 2015: ''Propulsion'', Zilberman's project space in Istanbul 2018: ''Dream Trip'',

References

External links

Instagram of Didem Özbek
{{DEFAULTSORT:Özbek, Didem 1970 births Alumni of Central Saint Martins Artists from Istanbul Curators from Istanbul Living people Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University alumni Turkish women artists