Müge Yılmaz (1985) invites us to understand nature as a thinking and acting entity in its own right. She engages the audience through installations and rituals aimed at protecting the environment. Her sculptures and performances draw from ancient symbols and practices, reinterpreted through a feminist perspective. References in her work range from Neolithic Anatolian hieroglyphs to Hamsas, or Hands of Fatima. Her sculptures resemble the shadows of gods, animals, and gestures, as seen on the walls of caves or temples. Yılmaz explores the paradoxes of protection, focusing on its connections to community, survival, and belief. While protection seems to offer safety, she argues, it can also bring control or aggression. “Militarism was created to protect countries, but it often limits freedom,” she says. For Yılmaz, belief itself is a form of protection. “If you want to protect a tree, create a story about it.”
Yilmaz participated in several biennials and museum exhibitions, 4th Karachi Biennial 2024, 59th Venice Biennale, 2022, 16th Istanbul Biennial, 2019, and the 11th Shanghai Biennial, 2016. Tenminste Houdbaar Tot, Museum Arnhem, 2022, PERFORMATIK 17, Brussels, 2017. And she has been a resident artist at ACC, Gwangju and is alumna of Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Yilmaz participated in several biennials and museum exhibitions, 4th Karachi Biennial 2024, 59th Venice Biennale, 2022, 16th Istanbul Biennial, 2019, and the 11th Shanghai Biennial, 2016. Tenminste Houdbaar Tot, Museum Arnhem, 2022, PERFORMATIK 17, Brussels, 2017. And she has been a resident artist at ACC, Gwangju and is alumna of Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
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Artworks by Müge Ylmaz
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