Hakan Topal

Trained as a civil engineer, Turkish artist Hakan Topal continued his education in gender and women’s studies and sociology. He completed his PhD in sociology from the New School for Social Research. Topal was the co-founder of the art collection xurban_collective and has exhibited his work and research projects in institutions such as the 8th and 9th Istanbul Biennials; apexart, New York; Thyssen-Bornesmisza Art Contemporary (TBA21), Vienna; Kunst-Werke, Berlin; ZKM Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany; MoMA PS1, New York; 9th Gwanju Biennial, South Korea. Topal has represented Turkey in various exhibitions including the 49th Venice Biennial Turkish Pavilion. His texts and projects have been featured in various international journals and catalogues and he is the co-editor and publisher of The Sea-Image: Visual Manifestations of Port Cities and Global Waters. He is currently working on projects that deal with concepts such as new ecologies, catastrophe (Turkey, United States, Japan), and the phantasmagory in the Islamist world.