Işıl Eğrikavuk

Interconnectedness is an overarching theme in Eğrikavuk's work. Her 2021 thesis From a Political Protest to an Art Exhibition: Building Interconnectedness through Dialogue Based Art was a collaboration with 6 art and ecology collectives from Turkey focused on developing ways to communicate with one-another in atmospheres with restricted of freedom of expression. In The Other Garden (2022), along with her students at Universität der Künste, she established a garden in the backyard of their university where they grow wild plants that are not originating in Germany and focus on issues of bio-diversity, inclusivity and care work.

Eğrikavuk received her Ph.D. in Communication from Istanbul Bilgi University in 2021. Thesis title: From A Political Protest To An Art Exhibition: Building Interconnectedness Through Dialogue-Based Art

In Time to Sing a New Song (2016), Eğrikavuk utilizes humor and playful language to enact an alternative perspective to traditional patriarchal religious mythologies. This video installation at the top of the Marmara Pera Hotel was shut down in an act of censorship by Turkish officials. Other works by Eğrikavuk employ humor to challenge gender norms including Departure Time (2015) where the artists has her shoes shinned while wearing a wedding dress.

The Art of Disagreement (2015), draws directly from contemporary Turkish political events and absurdly reproduces them to critically reflect on their dangerous nature. More recently, in Pluto's Kitchen (2016) she critiqued Brexit by likening it to the disintegration of a love affair and Pluto's break up from the planetary system when it was downgraded to a dwarf planet.

In the 2012 performance, Change Will Be Terrific, she collaborated with Jozef E. Amado and Turkish rapper Fuat Ergin to create the song Karar Bizim (Our Decision) which was widely played at the Gezi Park protests in 2013. The project started one year before the protests to address gentrification in the central Taksim Square area. Reverse Corner (2013) and An Unusual Neighbourhood Tour (2010) are other works which explore protest and gentrification.

In 2009, Eğrikavuk participated in the 11th Istanbul Biennial, with her works, Infamous Library and Gül, video installation. She exhibits widely, worldwide

Between 2008 - 2013, Eğrikavuk worked in Turkey as a journalist, reporter, and editor at Hürriyet Daily News, formerly Turkish Daily News. From 2013 - 2016, Eğrikavuk wrote a weekly column in Turkish, Güncel Sanat Kafası (High on Contemporary Art), published in daily national newspaper Radikal, that commented on the intersection of daily news and contemporary art in Turkey.

In 2008, Eğrikavuk began her teaching career at SAIC administering the course “Absurd Everyday.” In Turkey, Eğrikavuk has been an adjunct professor at Sabanci University (Visual Arts Department), Boğaziçi University (Western Languages and Literature Department), Yıldız Teknik (Art and Design department), and for ten years at Istanbul Bilgi University (Visual Communication, Photography and Video, Culture and Art Management Departments). Since 2017, Eğrikavuk has been at Universität der Künste, Berlin, Germany (UdK), Communication Department (Gesellschafts und Wirtschaftskommunikation) as a Post Ph.D. Research Associate and faculty member.

In 2003, Eğrikavuk earned a BA in Western Languages and Literature from Boğazici University. In 2005, she earned an MA in Arts Administration, followed by an MFA in Performance (2008) from SAIC, funded in part by a Koç Foundation Scholarship. In 2021, she earned her Ph.D. from Istanbul Bilgi University, Istanbul, Turkey.

Işıl Eğrikavuk (born November 7, 1980) is a Turkish-born international performance artist and academic based in Berlin, Germany. She received her MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) and a Ph.D. in Communication from Istanbul Bilgi University, Istanbul, Turkey. Her work utilizes storytelling, journalism and dialogue-based practices and examines critical themes including protest, feminism, identity politics, nature, and universal interconnectedness. These works take the form of temporary and permanent installations, interactive events and performances, photographic and video documentation, and text-based work.