Eylem Ertürk (Vienna/Istanbul) is a social designer, artist and researcher working at the intersection of art, ecology, politics, memory and public space. In her research and practice, she focuses on embodied methods and participatory approaches for collective knowledge production. She has founded Shared Walks, which creates social encounters and critical spaces by walking in urban and natural environments. She is currently pursuing her PhD, titled The Politics of the Balcony in Contemporary Art, at the Institute of Art Theory and Cultural Studies at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (ÖAW Doc-Fellow 2023-2024).
She completed a B.Sc. in Management Engineering at Istanbul Technical University (1999), an M.A. in Photography at Marmara University Institute of Fine Arts in Istanbul (2007), and an M.A. in Social Design_Arts as Urban Innovation at the University of Applied Arts Vienna (2019). Since 2005, she has initiated and led several art projects and worked as a researcher, editor, curator, manager and lecturer focusing on socially engaged art practices and local cultural policies. She taught at Istanbul Bilgi University Arts and Cultural Management Program (2006-2015) and edited the book Local Cultural Policies Handbook: Steps, Tools and Case Studies (2011). Focusing on cultural dialogue through arts at Anadolu Kültür (2010-2017), she has developed and managed several projects in different cities in Türkiye, including BAK: Revealing the City through Memory. She co-curated the Memory and Arts project (2018-2021) by Hafıza Merkezi (Truth Justice Memory Center) in Türkiye and co-edited the book Talks on Memory and Arts 2020. Based in Vienna since 2017, she continues to collaborate with initiatives and civil society organisations in Türkiye and the diaspora.
2012 © Eylem Ertürk
