neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst (nGbK) promotes contemporary artists and their works through exhibitions and performances, as well as through art education and event programs. In addition, it supports artistic practice and fosters local exchange with international fellows through residencies in Berlin.

In 2026, İhsan Oturmak and Rozelin Akgün were selected for the Istanbul–Berlin Fellowship, which promotes artist exchanges between these two cities. rezzan gümgüm received the one-year “Weltoffenes Berlin” Fellowship. This fellowship enables artists and cultural practitioners who have left their countries of residence for political reasons to continue their work in Berlin.  Both fellowships are awarded by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion and coordinated by nGbK

Künstler:innenstipendium Istanbul–Berlin:
İhsan Oturmak and Rozelin Akgün

The Istanbul-Berlin Residency Program promotes cultural exchange and supports the artistic development of professional artists. As part of the city partnership between Berlin and Istanbul, which has existed since 1989, the fellowship aims to strengthen the connections between the art scenes of both cities. The fellowship is based on the belief that international exchange and direct communication allow cultural diversity to be experienced as an enrichment and encourage a critical shift in perspective. As part of a collaboration between neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst (nGbK), Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien, and DEPO in Istanbul, two artists from Istanbul and two from Berlin are selected annually by a jury. The scholarship recipients from Istanbul work in a studio at Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien and are mentored by nGbK.

The scholarship recipients were selected by a jury from among more than 149 applications. In the first step, a jury in Istanbul—composed of Dilek Winchester, Mert Sarısu, Merve Elveren, and Serdar Darendeliler—compiled a shortlist of 10 artists. From this shortlist, a jury in Berlin—composed of Iz Öztat, Lotta Schäfer, and Stéphane Bauer—then selected İhsan Oturmak and Rozelin Akgün.

İhsan Oturmak
July–December 2026

During his stay in Berlin, İhsan Oturmak explores the relationship between space and collective memory. Through observational sketches, photographs, and videos on the themes of belonging, migration, and the state, he develops a conceptual visual language. At the heart of Oturmak’s paintings, videos, and sculptures are power dynamics and the invisible structures of everyday life. He positions figures and objects in dynamic relationships with space, thereby revealing the fragility of belonging, ownership, and migration. Everyday objects and architectural details convey the invisible boundaries of social structures.

İhsan Oturmak has presented his artistic works in numerous international exhibitions and biennials, including “Painting Today” at Yapı Kredi Kültür Sanat Yayıncılık in Istanbul, the 8th Çanakkale Biennial, the Mardin Biennial, as well as the exhibitions “Four Positions in Painting” at the Peter Kilchmann Gallery in Zurich, “Don’t Look Back, Deep is the Past” at the Odunpazarı Modern Müze (OMM), and “Curating War” at Kunstraum Innsbruck.

Rozelin Akgün
January–June 2027

In her work, Rozelin Akgün, a trained landscape architect, conceives of landscape as a place where ecological processes, political interventions, and everyday social life intersect. Through artistic field research and material experiments, she explores how changes to the environment, coupled with the control of infrastructure, leave both physical and psychological traces. In her works, organic surfaces serve as vessels for time and vulnerability, making the transformation itself part of the artwork. In Berlin, Akgün will continue her ongoing research project “Haunted Landscapes,” in which she examines how violence against Kurds lives on in landscapes. Through a dialogue with the city, the project continues to evolve both in terms of content and materials.

Rozelin Akgün’s work has been exhibited at numerous institutions and independent art spaces, most recently at <rotor> in Graz and Yapı Kredi Kültür Sanat Yayıncılık in Istanbul. She is a recipient of the Prince Claus Fund Seed Award and has received support from the SaDe – İKSV Artist Support Fund.

Weltoffenes Berlin: rezzan gümgüm

rezzan gümgüm works across performance, installation, and video. She explores issues of displacement, identity, memory, nature, and everyday life. Her current research project examines the absence of migrant communities in official archives, approaching the street as a living archive where these communities become visible through their everyday presence. Taking Kurdish communities in Berlin as its starting point, the project moves between archival research, walks, observation, and urban encounters to explore how memory persists beyond documented histories and institutional records. In September 2026, gümgüm will present a work in the group exhibition In touch by the Goldrausch Künstlerinnenprojekt, which will be on view at nGbK as part of Berlin Art Week.

rezzan gümgüm received her BA and MA in Art Education from Gazi University and completed her PhD in Painting at Hacettepe University in Ankara. She also studied at Accademia di Belle Arti di Macerata in Italy and Complutense University of Madrid in Spain. gümgüm is a founding member of Zer Women’s Initiative and Rê Collective.

The stipend of the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion is made possible by a cooperation between neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst (nGbK) and Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien in Berlin as well as DEPO in Istanbul.

The Weltoffenes Berlin Fellowship is made possible by the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion and is organized by neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst.

neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst (nGbK) is funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion.