SAHA Talks: New Home | Yeşim Akdeniz

The launch of the New Home monograph, which focuses on Yeşim Akdeniz's current body of work, will take place on April 22 at 5 pm at SAHA Studio. Akdeniz will be joined at the launch event by Amira Akbıyıkoğlu and Yekhan Pınarlıgil.

Published on the occasion of her comprehensive exhibition at Galerie der Stadt Backnang, the book brings together a foreword by Martin Schick, a text by Ela Atakan, and a two-part conversation between the artist and Yekhan Pınarlıgil. Spanning the artist's last five years of production, the publication traces how themes such as migration, identity, and cultural codes are transformed within Yeşim Akdeniz's artistic language. Designed by Ulaş Uğur, the book also reflects the artist's approach through its structural features: a special folding cover and a two-part interlocking structure that reference the layered quality of her work. Beyond being a catalogue, New Home is a document that situates Yeşim Akdeniz's recent practice within a broader conversation on art, history, and belonging; one that opens space for dialogue and reflection.

About Yeşim Akdeniz
Yeşim Akdeniz studied at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. Following her graduation, she was accepted into the De Ateliers program in Amsterdam from 2002 to 2004. She received the Buning Brongers Award in 2004 and the Peter Mertes Stipend in 2005. Her work has been exhibited at institutions including Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Kunstverein Frankfurt, Sammlung Philara Düsseldorf, Kunstverein Bielefeld, MAK Museum Vienna, Kunsthal Mechelen, Guggenheim Gallery Los Angeles, and Pakt Foundation Amsterdam.
Akdeniz's practice is shaped by symbolic narratives that reflect cultural production, negotiation, and the formation of identity. Through her distinctive visual language, she addresses the circulation of form, material, and labor, while bringing together personal and cultural references to offer layered readings of history, identity, and collective memory. The artist currently lives and works between Brussels and Düsseldorf.