about

2015 to Present
an alternative art education program
NESIN ART VILLAGE


Işın Önol

1977 Turkey, Lives and works in New York
contact: isin(at)isinonol.com

Photograph by: Tobias Nöbauer


Isin Önol is a curator and writer based in New York. Currently she works as the Director of Curatorial Research at the School of Visual Arts, Curatorial Practice MA Program. She has been working as an independent curator (predominantly in the USA, Austria and Turkey) since 2009. Before that, she led the Elgiz Museum of Contemporary Art Istanbul as its director and curator for three years. (2006-2009)

Between 2014 and 2023, she was research scholar at the Center for the Study of Social Difference at Columbia University, and a member of Women Mobilizing Memory, a multiyear feminist collaboration bringing together an interdisciplinary group of scholars, artists, and activists from Chile, Turkey, and the United States. With this group she curated multiple exhibitions, including Collaborative Archives: Connective Histories (New York) and Mobilizing Memory (Istanbul, Vienna, and Madrid). Her research focuses on interconnecting archival information with oral histories to create platforms for collective memory through collaborative art practices.

Önol co-founded and directs the Nesin Art Village, an independent art school in Şirince, Turkey. Her recent exhibitions include Bilgé: Lifespan of a Horizontal Line (New York), Imagine Repair (New York), A Knot in the Throat (Vienna), Thinking Food Futures (New York), The New Human Agenda (Istanbul), and When Home Won’t Let You Stay (Vienna). She co-curated the Sinopale International Sinop Biennial Editions 4, 5, and 8 (2012, 2014, and 2021). She has produced more than 60 exhibitions internationally, and published on the intersection of social justice and art.

From February 2022 to July 2023 she worked as a guest professor and curator at the University of Applied Arts, Vienna. Between September 2017 and May 2021 she worked as a visiting critic and lecturer at the MFA and BFA programs at Montclair State University, New Jersey. In 2016-17, she worked as a visiting curator and critic at the Social Design – Art as Urban Innovation MA Program at University of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria. In 2014-15 Önol worked as a guest lecturer at the Department of Digital Art at University of Applied Arts and as a guest curator at the Schauraum-Angewandte, Quartier21, MuseumsQuartier, Vienna. Besides regular teaching appointments, she gave number of lectures at School of Visual Arts, NY; New York University, NY; Parson School of Arts and Columbia University as well as various programs at Vienna University of Applied Arts, Austria.

In 2014 she was a curator in residency at Residency Unlimited, New York. She is a member of AICA-TR and IKT among other cultural organizations and associations. Isin Önol has been elected twice to the Board of Directors of Roberto Cimetta Fund for the periods between 2018-2021 and 2021-2024.

Önol is a PhD Candidate at the Department of Cultural Studies, University of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria. She has completed her Master of Advance Studies on Curating at ZHdK, Zürcher Hochschule der Kunst, Zürich, Switzerland (2009-2011). She participated to Ecole du Magasin, International Curatorial Training Programme, Centre National d’Art Contemporain, Grenoble, France and Gwangju Biennale International Curator Course, Gwangju, South Korea (2009). She received her MFA in Visual Arts and Visual Communication Design from Sabanci University (2003), and her BA in Art Education from Marmara University (2000), Istanbul, Turkey.


ASSOCIATIONS & ORGANIZATIONS:

Önol was a curator in residence, at Residency Unlimited, NY in October 2014.


JURIES AND PORTFOLIO REVIEWS:

Other inviting residency programs for portfolio reviews include: ISCP – International Studio & Curatorial Program, NY; Pioneer Works, NY; Abrons Art Center, NY


PRIMARY RESEARCH INTERESTS:

  • Narrating, communicating, and reactivating archives and oral histories through exhibitions.
  • Generating effective strategies for audience engagement and active participation in exhibition projects.
  • Creating artistic and political platforms for collective memory as alternative histories to official narratives.
  • Communicating the problems around the notions of diversity, community engagement, participation, discrimination, and otherness.
  • Developing platforms for interrogating and problematizing the existing forms of art education, seeking for innovative methods and tools that are relevant to art production and its problems today.

EXHIBITIONS:

23 FEBRUARY – 10 APRIL 2023 BILGÉ: LIFESPAN OF A HORIZONTAL LINE
SAPAR CONTEMPORARY, New York
08 DECEMBER – 30 JUNE 2022 THE WONDROUS DEPOSITS OF UNFINISHED THREADS
As part of SINOPALE 8, 8TH International Sinop Biennale
23 APRIL – 15 MAY 2022 IMAGINE REPAIR: ZIP CODE MEMORY PROJECT
Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, New York
09 SEPTEMBER – 09 OCTOBER 2021 A KNOT IN THE THROAT: FORAGING FOR A VANISHING PRESENT
Kunsthalle Exnergasse, Vienna
22 JAN – 25 JUNE 2021 THINKING FOOD FUTURES
Online Exhibition, Hosted by Residency Unlimited, New York
26 JUNE – 27 JUNE 2019 WOMEN MOBILIZING MEMORY: ARTS OF INTERVENTION
Moncloa Campus, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain
20 JUNE – 3 JULY 2019 PREMIO NEW YORK
Italian Cultural Institute, New York
13 APRIL – 25 MAY 2019 THE NEW HUMAN AGENDA
Akbank Sanat, Istanbul
01 APRIL – 30 MAY 2018 UNLEASHING PROJECT
Columbia University, Teachers College, New York
08 – 14 MAY, 2018 FRAGILITY OF _KIN
Montclair State University, College of Arts, MFA Show, Chelsea, New York
24 MARCH – 27 APRIL 2018 CONTINUITY AND RUPTURE: AN ARMENIAN FAMILY ODYSSEY REVISITED
Brand Library & Art Center, Glendale, LA
 17 MARCH – 6 MAY 2018 NONLINEAR HISTORIES: TRANSGENERATIONAL MEMORY OF TRAUMA
Downtown Central Library in Glendale | ReflectSpace Gallery, Glendale, LA
17 MARCH – 6 MAY 2018 PROSPERITY, LOSS, AND SURVIVAL: A PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY fROM THE DILDILIAN FAMILY ARCHIVE
Downtown Central Library | PassageWay, Glendale, LA
1 DECEMBER 2017 – 5 JAN 2018 CONTINUITY AND RUPTURE: PHOTOGRAPHY FROM THE DILDILIAN FAMILY ARCHIVE
Columbia University, International Affairs Building 4th Floor Gallery, New York
 10 – 26 NOVEMBER 2017 CULTIVATED MEMORY: ARCHAEOLOGIES OF THE IMAGINED
Peninsula Art Space, 352 Van Brunt Street, Brooklyn, NY
9 SEPTEMBER – 23 DECEMBER 2017 BLACK NOISE
Akbank Sanat, Istanbul, Turkey
7 SEPTEMBER – 14 OCTOBER 2017 HOME IS A PLACE CALLED NEVER: DIDEM ERK
Gallery X-ist, Istanbul, Turkey
25 MARCH – 21 APRIL 2017 ARE YOU STILL ALIVE? – VOICES OF CONSCIENCE AT A TIME OF SILENCING
Steirische Kultur Initiative, Graz, Austria
08 – 12 FEBRUARY 2017 ONLINE TUESDAYS//PROJECT FORGIVENESS:
VITA ERUHIMOVITZ & RONIT LEVIN DELGADO
Chashama, New York
05 NOVEMBER – 11 DECEMBER 2016 ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?: BERAT ISIK
DEPO, Istanbul, Turkey
14 OCTOBER 2016 – 15 JAN 2017 WORDS NUMBERS LINES: BILGE FRIEDLAENDER
ARTER; Istanbul, Turkey
30 0CT – 08 DECEMBER 2016 A LIFE OVERFLOWING: AZIZ NESIN 1915-2015
Cankaya Municipality Center for Contemporary Art, Ankara, Turkey
05 – 25 MAY 2016 WHEN HOME WON’T LET YOU STAY
Angewandte, Heiligenkreuzer Hof, Vienna
20 APRIL – 08 MAY 2016 SHADOW COMMUNITIES
in der Kubatur des Kabinetts der Kunstsalon im Fluc, Vienna
11 DECEMBER 2015 – 30 JAN 2016 A LIFE OVERFLOWING: AZIZ NESIN 1915-2015
Adnan Saygun Art Center, Izmir, Turkey
21 NOVEMBER 2015 – 05 JAN 2016 A LIFE OVERFLOWING: AZIZ NESIN 1915-2015
Nilüfer Belediyesi Nazim Hikmet Kültürevi, Bursa, Turkey
08 – 18 SEPTEMBER 2015 COLLABORATIVE ARCHIVES: CONVECTIVE HISTORIES
LeRoy Neiman Gallery, Columbia University, NYC, USA
09 JUNE – 16 JULY 2015 A LIFE OVERFLOWING: AZIZ NESIN 1915-2015
DEPO, Istanbul, Turkey
18 MARCH – 3 APRIL 2015 MOBILIZING MEMORY – VIENNA
KUNSTHALLE EXNERGASSE, Vienna, Austria
06  27 FEBRUARY, 2015 DISSONANCE: TRANSGRESSED BOUNDARIES BETWEEN DESIRE AND FEAR
PERCEPT ART, Mumbai, India
18 DECEMBER 2014 – 18 JAN 2015 FINALLY FEELING FINE: PINAR YOLDAS
SCHAURAUM, MuseumsQuartier, Vienna Austria
05 SEPTEMBER – 03 OCTOBER 2014 MOBILIZING MEMORY: WOMEN WITNESSING
DEPO, Istanbul, Turkey
12 JULY – 31 AUGUST 2014 SINOPALE 5: CLUSTERS AND CRYSTALS: OBSERVING AT POINT ZERO
5th International Sinop Biennale, Sinop, Turkey
26 JUNE – 28 AUGUST 2014 STROKE: ALİ MİHARBİ
SCHAURAUM, MuseumsQuartier, Vienna Austria
09 MAY – 01 JUNE 2014 THE UNKNOWN UNKNOWNS: OLIVIER HÖLZL
OBEN, Vienna, Austria
08 MAY – 22 JUNE 2014 ELECTRICKLE: MIRKO LAZOVIĆ
SCHAURAUM, Museums Quartier, Vienna, Austria
1o APRIL – 24 MAY 2014 LEARNED HELPLESSNESS: ON AUTHORITY, OBEDIENCE, AND CONTROLMUSE Istanbul
14 JAN – 14 FEBRUARY 2014 OPEN SYSTEMS 1-01-04/13
GPL CONTEMPORARY, Vienna, Austria
10 JAN – 24 FEBRUARY 2014 INATTENTIONAL BLINDNESS
Galeri Zilberman+, Istanbul, Turkey
23 MAY – 15 JULY 2013 LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY DELETING
GPL Contemporary, Vienna, Austria
01 APRIL – 01 JUNE, 2013 WITH/IN/SIGNIFICANT OTHER
Open Systems, Vienna, Austria
30 SEPTEMBER – 19 OCTOBER 2012 TACTICAL TOPICS – TOPICAL TACTICS
Media-Scape Biennale, Zagreb, Croatia
27 AUGUST – 12 SEPTEMBER 2012 SINOPALE 4: WISDOM OF SHADOW: ART IN THE ERA OF CORRUPTED INFORMATION
4th International Sinop Biennale, Sinop, Turkey
16 – 30 JUNE, 2012 IN GROWING UP AMID THE HISTORICAL MYSTERIES OF PROXIMITY:
PROS & CONS OF BEING NEIGHBOURS

ITS-Z1, Belgrade, Serbia
21 – 30 MARCH, 2012 EMBEDDEDINVISIBLE
hu-fAk:off space, Vienna, Austria
8 JAN – 5 FEBRUARY, 2012 INVISIBLE CITY – TECHNOLOGIES OF THE BODY
Wäsherei-Kunstverein Zurich, Switzerland
JUNE, 2011 FASCINATIONS WITH CAST SHADOWS:
ARTISTIC AND CURATORIAL PERSPECTIVES RE-VISITED

(As a part of the MAS Curating degree show, ZHdK)
White Space, Zurich, Switzerland
04 OCTOBER – 17 DECEMBER, 2010 HANDLE WITH CARE
Uni-Credit Studio, Milan, Italy
28 JUNE – 30 AUGUST, 2009 SERIOUSLY IRONIC:
POSITIONS IN TURKISH CONTEMPORARY ART SCENE
Centre Pasquart, Biel, Switzerland
20 MAY – 27 JUNE 2009 GETTING EVEN
Sabanci University Kasa Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
06 DECEMBER 2008 – 14 FEBRUARY 2009 PRIVACY
La Giarina Arte Contemporanea, Verona, Italy
11 OCTOBER – 08 NOVEMBER, 2008 ACCUMULATED: PUT ASIDE, LEFT ASIDE
5533, Istanbul, Turkey
from 2006 June to 2009 June she worked as the director/curator of Proje4L/Elgiz Museum of Contemporary Art and took part at the following projects:
MAY – AUGUST, 2008 THE SUBLIME FIGURES OF LEAPING HEART
SELECTION OF A. OZTOPRAK’S PAINTINGS FROM ELGIZ COLLECTION

Venue: Ca’ Pesaro Museum of Modern Art, Venice
Curator: Necmi Sönmez
Project Manager: Isin Önol
(catalogue available)
MARCH – JUNE, 2008 L’ALBA DI DOMANI / THE DOWN OF TOMORROW
SELECTED CONTEMPORARY ARTWORK FROM ITALIAN COLLECTIONS

Venue: Proje 4L/Elgiz Museum of Contemporary Art
Artists: Vanessa Beecroft, Letizia Cariello, Paolo Chiasera, Cuoghi Corsello, Flavio Favelli , Francesco Jodice, Adrian Paci, Antonio Riello, Vedovamazzei, Francesco Vezzoli, Loris Cecchini, Flavio Favelli, Fausto Gilberti
Curators: Isin Önol & Dr. Vittorio Urbani
(catalogue available)
DECEMBER, 2007 POETICS OF SPACE: OZTOPRAK AND HIS GENERATION
Venue: Proje4L/Elgiz Museum of Contemporary Art, Istanbul
(In collaboration with: Museum Folkwang, Jozef Albers Museum; Kunstmuseum Bochum, Germany)
Artists: Josef Albers, Antonio Calderara, Piero Dorazio, Julie Kniefer,  Heinz Mack, Abdurrahman Öztoprak, Bridget Riley, Pierre Soulages, Zdenek Sykora, Ryszard Winiarski
Curator: Necmi Sönmez
Project Manager: Isin Önol
(catalogue available)
OCTOBER – DECEMBER, 2007 OVERTURES ISTANBUL
Venue: Artvarium (Project Space), Proje4L/Elgiz Museum of Contemporary Art, Istanbul
Artists: Genco Gülan, Kalle Laar, Orhan Cem Çetin, Rúrí, Silvia Erdem, Silver & Hanne Rivrud
Curator: Marcus Graf
Project Manager: Isin Önol
SEPTEMBER – OCTOBER, 2007 IMAGE-TRACE
Venue: Artvarium (Project Space), Proje4L/Elgiz Museum of Contemporary Art, Istanbul
Artist: Burcu Yagcioglu
Curator: Isin Önol
JULY – SEPTEMBER, 2007 AND
Venue: Artvarium (Project Space), Proje4L/Elgiz Museum of Contemporary Art, Istanbul
Artist: Nancy Atakan
Curator: Isin Önol
May – JULY, 2007 OVERJOYED ONES
Venue: Artvarium (Project Space), Proje4L/Elgiz Museum of Contemporary Art, Istanbul
Artist: Muruvvet Turkyilmaz
Curator: Isin Önol
OCTOBER, 2006 – MARCH, 2007 MELTEMOFISTANBUL
EMERGING GERMAN AND TURKISH ARTISTS FROM THE ELGIZ COLLECTION
Venue: Main Hall, Proje4L/Elgiz Museum of Contemporary Art, Istanbul
Curator: Necmi Sönmez
Project Manager: Isin Önol
(catalogue available)
JUNE – AUGUST, 2006 BORDELLO
Venue: Artvarium (Project Space), Proje4L/Elgiz Museum of Contemporary Art, Istanbul
Artist: Sukran Moral
Project Manager: Isin Önol

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

2022  
Mario Rizzi: Bayt
Softcover, September 2022
Bilingual edition (English / Italian)
Nero Publishers
The volume is co-produced by the Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato.
 

 
   
2020  
Maja Vukoje. On the Edge
Paperback, November 2020
Verlag der Buchhandlung Walter und Franz König
Editor: Luisa Ziaja
Structures of Displacement
Paperback, November 2020
Birkhäuser Basel
Editors: Baerbel Mueller, Frida Robles
 
 2019
Women Mobilizing Memory
Paperback, August 2019,
Columbia University Press
Editors: Ayşe Gül Altınay,
María José Contreras, Marianne Hirsch,
Jean Howard, Banu Karaca, and Alisa Solomon
Ne Oralı Ne Buralı (Turkish)
Paperback, August 2019
Karakarga Publications
Istanbul, Turkey
Editor: Işıl Öz
 
2018
Authoritarianism and Resistance in Turkey:
Conversations on Democratic and Social Challenges
Hardcover – July 23, 2018,
Springer Publishing
Editors: Esra Özyürek, Gaye Özpınar, Emrah Altındis
MEDIATIONS: SUSAN MEISELAS
Hardcover, March  2018, Paris
Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Jeu de Paume,
Damiani, SFMOMA
Editor: Pia Viewing
 
2017
ENDLESS BODIES OF WORK:
RICHARD JOCHUM
September 2017 , Austrian Frederick and
Lilian Kiesler Private Foundation
Vienna, Austria
Editors: Isin Önol & Richard Jochum
A LIFE OVERFLOWING
Aziz Nesin 1915 – 2015
UNWRITTEN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Hardcover, September 2015,
Istanbul, Turkey
Editors: Esin Pervane & Salih Bora
screen-shot-2016-11-28-at-22-37-28
2016
WORDS NUMBERS LINES
BILGE FRIEDLAENDER
October 2016
ARTER
Istanbul, Turkey
Editor: Sureyya Evren
WHEN HOME WON’T LET YOU STAY
Manuel Print, May 2016,
Angewandte,
Heiligenkreuzerhof
Vienna, Austria
Editor: Isin Önol
2015
MOTHER TONGUE:
A visual journey inside
heritage,
gender politics and  war

Hardcover , 2015
Oslo, Norway
Editor: Frida Rusnak
The Challenges of Mobility:
Research, Debates and Practices
Hardcover, July 01, 2105,
Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Editors: Herman Bashiron Mendolicchio, Serene Huleileh

EXHIBITION CATALOGUES

2018-2019    
THE NEW HUMAN AGENDA
(In Progress – 2019)
April 2019
Akbank Sanat Istanbul
NONLINEAR HISTORIES:
TRANSGENERATIONAL MEMORY
OF TRAUMA 
March 2018
Reflect Art Space, Glandale, LA
Fragility of _kin
Montclair State University College of Arts
MFA Program
Studio Art Thesis Show
American Medium Gallery, NY
 2017-2018
UNLEASHING
(In Progress – 2018)
Columbia University
Teachers College, NY
BLACK NOISE
September 2017
Akbank Sanat,
Istanbul
HOME IS A PLACE CALLED
NEVER: DIDEM ERK
September 2017
X-Ist, Istanbul
 
 2015
A LIFE OVERFLOWING
Aziz Nesin 1915 – 2015
UNWRITTEN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Hardcover, September 2015,
Istanbul
UNWRITTEN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
AZIZ NESIN 1925 – 2015
June 2015
Depo
Istanbul, Turkey
YAZILMAMIS ÖZYASAMÖYKÜSÜ:
AZIZ NESIN 1915-2015
June 2015
Depo
Istanbul, Turkey
screen-shot-2016-11-28-at-22-37-28 Cover 001
 
 2015
WOMEN MOBILIZING MEMORY
COLLABORATIVE ARCHIVES:
CONNECTIVE HISTORIES
September 2015
LeRoy Neiman Gallery, NY
MOBILIZING MEMORY
– VIENNA
March 2015
Kunsthalle Exnergasse
Vienna, Austria
MOBILIZING MEMORY
– VIENNA (Booklet)
March 2015
Kunsthalle Exnergasse
Vienna, Austria
Screen Shot 2015-08-21 at 6.49.01 AM Screen Shot 2015-03-23 at 9.08.47 AM Screen Shot 2015-03-23 at 8.56.36 AM
 2014 
MOBILIZING MEMORY:
WOMEN WITNESSING
September 2014
Depo
Istanbul, Turkey
LEARNED HELPLESSNESS:
ON AUTHORITY, OBEDIENCE,
AND CONTROL

April 2014, Muse,
Istanbul, Turkey
INATTENTIONAL
BLINDNESS
January 2014
Galeri Zilberman,
Istanbul, Turkey
Screen Shot 2014-11-18 at 8.50.32 PM Screen Shot 2014-11-18 at 8.25.09 PM Screen Shot 2014-11-18 at 8.40.22 PM
 
2008-2014
TACTICAL TOPICS
TOPICAL TACTICS

September 2012
Media-Scape Biennale,
Zagreb,
Croatia
SERIOUSLY IRONIC:
POSITIONS IN TURKISH
CONTEMPORARY ART SCENE
June 2009
Biel, Center Pasquart,
Switzerland
L’ALBA DI DOMANI /
THE DOWN OF TOMORROW
March 2008,
Elgiz Museum
Istanbul,
Turkey
Media Scape catalogue cover invitation Screen Shot 2014-12-15 at 4.44.09 PM

“Işın Önol”, “ışın önol” “Isin Önol” “Isin Onol”