As LGBTI+ communities and their rights defenders are under attack in Türkiye following the arrest of over 80 individuals this September, the local art world, in tandem with its international supporters, is bracing for another wave of struggle, as so many professionals in Türkiye’s culture sector are both direct victims and close allies who risk their careers and lives to promote the benefits of a diverse society.
For this reason, among countless others, the work of Turkish curators abroad is a fundamental asset to the health and survival of artists and their colleagues in Türkiye, particularly those based in more liberal countries when it comes to LGBTI+ rights, such as in Britain.
The decision to resettle in the UK for emerging Turkish curators is not a matter of individual ambition but of collective solidarity. This network of progressives from the LGBTI+ community includes Can Akgümüş, London transplant as of 2026 and an openly gay Turkish artist who appeared on the cover of Kaos GL for their January-February 2026 issue.
Can Akgümüş, 'Terminal', solo exhibition, 2021, Kurşunlu Han, Istanbul. Photo © Kayhan Kaygusuz
As part of the government crackdown on LGBTI+ associations, the offices of Kaos GL were raided in Ankara this month, on charges of obscenity, in the name of ‘protecting family safety’.
The fact that such LGBTI+ organisations transparently work to assist young people and the general public to broaden their sex education and establish health-conscious lifestyles is a hard contradiction to swallow, but one that is not unprecedented in Türkiye, which ranked 47th out of 49th in the ILGA-Europe’s 2026 Rainbow Map.
Mustafa Boğa, 'This Might Be The Last Thing You Are Looking At', neon, 2026. Photo © Deniz Yılmaz
Another Turkish artist, Mustafa Boğa, attended Central Saint Martins (University of the Arts London) with a journalism background, attaining a Master's on the merit of his practice, which is currently on view at Istanbul’s Martch Art Gallery.
In his artwork, he weaves textiles to evoke scenes of militarism and family, alluding to his experience as a gay man whose petition to have his obligatory military service waived on the basis of sexual nonconformism was counterintuitively rejected.
Istanbul’s fall art season included a special exhibition, entitled Symbolic Vault, at Kasa Gallery presented by Tima Jam, an Iranian curator, platforming a neat trio of works by artists from Portugal, Australia and Türkiye. Ecem Dilan Köse stood out for her evocative, hallucinatory installation of digital melt.
The succinct visions of Jam were on full display in downtown Istanbul, where, years ago she began curating Iranian and Turkish artists together as part of a mobile curatorial project. Since moving to London, Jam returned to Istanbul with a curatorial practice informed by the Tehran scene, where artists continue to flee laws criminalizing the local LGBTI+ community under pain of death.
From Istanbul to London, where art workers continue to platform as yet unheard voices, the role of the emerging curator assumes a singular value, as a bridge between generations, individuals and institutions from a country under fire and one that serves as a refuge while so much of the world burns.
About the guest writer
Matt Hanson is the Istanbul desk editor for ArtAsiaPacific. His art writing has appeared in Artforum, ARTnews and Artnet News. He is the author of Daily Morning: Art Writing in Turkey 2017-2018, the first of a three-volume study.
Main image, top, Mustafa Boğa, ‘İsimsiz 3 / Untitled 3’, 2026, freehand machine embroidery. Photo © Deniz Yılmaz
