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Defne Tesal (1985) lives and works in Istanbul, Turkey. 

Education

2017 - 2019        MA in Fine Arts, Master Institute of Visual Cultures, AKV St.Joost, Den Bosch, Netherlands

2004 - 2010        BA in Stage and Costume Design, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Istanbul, Turkey

2007 - 2008        Erasmus exchange at Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara, Dept. of Scenography, Italy

 

Artist residencies and collaborations

22.4.2024 - 7.5.2024          Dou Print Studio - Lithography Studio, Ankara, Turkey

6.10.2019 - 1.12.2019        Kulttuuri Kauppila Art Center - Social Art Residency, Ii, Finland

1.10.2016 - 22.12.2016      Kulttuuri Kauppila Art Center Artist in Residency, Ii, Finland

1.6.2015 - 1.7.2015            SVA Summer Residency, Painting and Mixed Media - New York City, USA

Artist collective

2019 - 2023        DREAM NEWS artist collective and publication initiative with Murat Yıldız

2016 - 2020        HAH artist collective with Ahu Akgün, Gizem Karakaş, Ayça Telgeren, Murat Yıldız

2018 - 2019          ADMIT ONE (Alireza Abbasy, Elena Chemerska, Annemée Dik, Raffaella Huizinga, Donglai Meng, Simon Oosterhuis, Angela Vidić and Murat Yıldız)

 

 

Solo and duo exhibitions

2023          “Talking with Water” Solo exhibition, PILEVNELI Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey

2023          “Just Like in a Dream” Duo exhibition with Ferruh Başağa, curated by Derya Yücel, Nazım Hikmet Kültür Evi, Bursa, Turkey

2021          "Tereddüt" / “Hesitation” Solo exhibition, PILEVNELI Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey

2016          "Aralık" / “Interval” Solo exhibition, Gallery Zilberman - Project Space, Istanbul, Turkey

2016          “Keeping The Trace” Duo exhibition with Murat Yıldız, KulttuuriKauppila Art Center, Finland

2015          "Koza" / “Cocoon” solo exhibition, Gallery-5, Istanbul, Turkey

2013          "Cam Kenarı" / “Window Seat” solo exhibition, Gallery Artist Çukurcuma, Istanbul, Turkey

 

Selected group exhibitions

2024        “Distilled From Scattered Blue”, curated by Károly Aliotti, GALERIST, Istanbul, Turkey

2024         “Anima Nova” Istanbul74, CLUB HOUSE BEBEK, Istanbul, Turkey

2024         “Temas” curated by Volkan Kızıltunç, MSGSÜ, İstanbul, Turkey

2022          "Ben Kimse. Sen de mi Kimsesin?" / “I Am Nobody. Are You Nobody Too?” group exhibition curated by Selen Ansen, MEŞHER, Istanbul, Turkey

2022          "Koyun Koyuna" / “Rounded by Sleep” group exhibition curated by Eda Berkmen, ARTER Istanbul, Turkey

2021          “Atış Serbest - MECMU” group exhibition, Barın Han, Istanbul, Turkey

2020          Mor Çatı Women's Shelter Foundation, Art solidarity online GROUP exhibition, Turkey

2019          “Jong Talent” group exhibition, Den Bosch, Netherlands

2019          "Atış Serbest 5" group exhibition, Tophane-i Amire, Istanbul, Turkey

2018          "Moment of Trust" group exhibition. Project of Tenthaus Artist Collective (Oslo) Club Solo, Breda, NL

2018          "What Do We Dance For?", group exhibition, Gallery Nectar, Tbilisi, Georgia

2018          “There is another possibility: about open space and artist collectives” group exhibition, Kasa Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey, participated as HAH collective

2017          “Maybe, we will benefit from our neighbour’s good fortune” group exhibition curated by Işıl Eğrikavuk, Halka Art Project, Istanbul, Turkey, participated as HAH collective

2017          “Vesile” group exhibition by HAH collective members with guest artists Etem Sahin, Selim Birsel, Lara Ogel, HAHmekan, Istanbul, Turkey

2016          “Collective Memory (the past and future is ours)” group exhibition curated by Anna Bauer and Benjamin Lee Sperry, New York City, USA and Glasgow, Scotland

2016          Istanbul Rotary Art Competition – finalists group exhibition, curated by Başak Şenova, Elgiz Museum, Istanbul, Turkey

2015          SVA Summer Residency Open Studio Exhibition, New York City, USA

2014          “Interception”, International Textile Artists Group Exhibition, Gallery 5, Istanbul, Turkey

Scholarships

2017          Holland Scholarship, Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, The Netherlands

2015          Moon and Starts Scholarship for SVA Summer Residency Program from American Turkish Society, New York City, USA

2007          Erasmus Scholarship for bachelor in scenography education in Academia di Belle Arti di Carrara, Italy

 

Awards

2016          Istanbul Rotary Art Competition Award, Jury: Ayşe Umur, Başak Şenova, Can Elgiz, Gülsün Karamustafa, Işın Önol, Özalp Birol and Şerif Kaynar

2012          Ifsak Short Film Festival, Best Animation Award

2010          Yıldız Short Film Festival, Digital Film Academy Award

Workshops given

2023          “Tunnels of Sleep / Scale model making workshop’’ workshop for adults, Nazım Hikmet Kültür Evi, Nilüfer Munincipality, Bursa, Turkey

2022          “Tunnels of Sleep / Scale model making workshop’’ workshop for adults, ARTER Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey

2019          “1h 34’ 07’’ workshop for fine arts bachelor students of St. Joost Art Academy. In collaboration with Ying Liu and Murat Yıldız.

                   Master Institute of Visual Cultures, AKV St.Joost, Den Bosch, Netherlands

2018           "Absolute Rhythm, Indefinite Repetition" workshop for fine arts bachelor students of St. Joost Art Academy. In collaboration with Nicola Kirkaldy. 

                   Master Institute of Visual Cultures, AKV St.Joost, Den Bosch, The Netherlands

2016           “Random Creation Project” workshop for high school students of Ii Upper Secondary School, International Art Course program. In collaboration with Murat Yıldız. Ii, Finland

 

Selected performances and projects

2019          16. Istanbul Biennial, Public program – participation as HAH collective

2021          “Supposition” / “Sanı” video performance, in collaboration with Ahu Akgün

2018          “Hah Hikaye” interactive online story writing project

2018          “Momentum” performance, in collaboration with Ying Liu. Master Institute of Visual Cultures, AKV St. Joost, Den Bosch, NL

2018          "Meeting" interactive installation/exhibition. Master Institute of Visual Cultures, AKV St. Joost, Den Bosch, NL

2018          “Transition” video screening program / Eye Research Lab, Eye Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands

2018          "HAHcalendar" project, in collaboration with HAH members and artists Sena Başöz, Lara Ogel, Romina Meriç, Sevgi Aka, Uzay Kere, Beste Topuz, Onur Ceritoğlu. Published by Art Unlimited, Istanbul, Turkey

2017          “HAHasks” recording performance as part of MÇPS recording studio created by Can Altay and Saz Arkadaslari, produced by Amira Arzik at 5533, Istanbul, Turkey,    participated as HAH

2011          “Hain Kurt” / "Traitor Wolf", stop-motion animation film, 13’52’’, in collaboration with Murat Yıldız, Istanbul, Turkey

2010          “Bir Masal” / "A Tale", stop-motion animation film, 4’31’’, Istanbul, Turkey

 

Publications

2021          “Dream News / Ambiguous” issue 4, Turkey. Published by Vision Art Platform. In collaboration with Murat Yıldız

2021          “Tereddüt / Hesitation” Artist book. Published by PILEVNELI

2021          “Dream News / Chains” issue 3, Turkey, self published. In collaboration with Murat Yıldız

2019          “Dream News / Unelma Uutiset” issue 1, Finland, published by Lähde! In collaboration with Murat Yıldız

2019          "Distractions turning into Landscapes", Artist book. Self-publication

2018          HAHcalendar, calendar publication of HAH collective, Art Unlimited publication

2017          HAH “Vesile” exhibition catalogue, HAH publication

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