Istanbul-Berlin Residency Program

Since 2018, two scholarships have been granted annually to artists who live in Istanbul. The existing Istanbul stipend of the Senate Department for Culture and Europe was expanded to a true exchange, with a jury annually selecting two artists from Istanbul to be sent to Berlin and vice versa. The aim is to further enhance the relations between the partner cities of Berlin and Istanbul as well as the connections to the Turkish art scene. This is done with the conviction that international exchange and direct communication allow cultural diversity be experienced as an enrichment, inviting people to a change in perspective.
The scholarship takes place as part of a cooperation between the neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst (nGbK) and ZK/U (from 2018 to mid 2021), from June of 2021 on with Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien in Berlin, and DEPO in Istanbul.

İhsan Oturmak

July 15 – December 15, 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 15 – June 15, 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.

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.