Hüseyin Bahri Alptekin

Who was Hüseyin Bahri Alptekin?

Hüseyin Bahri Alptekin studied aesthetics, philosophy of art, and sociology in Ankara and Paris. He worked as a photographer for SIPA Press and wrote for various publications as an art and design critic. Alptekin lectured at Ankara Bilkent University and Istanbul Bilgi University. Starting in the early 1990s, Alptekin focused on an artistic production that explored the effects of globalization, immigration, and exile, cross cultural image circulation and anonymous production through travel, personal histories, and archives.

In 2007, Alptekin represented Turkey in the 52nd Venice Biennale with his installation “Don’t Complain” and participated the exhibition “Global Cities” at the Tate Modern in London. From 2000-2004, he ran a non-profit artists’ collective called “Sea Elephant Travel Agency.” He was involved with various collectives and collaborative work, including his early work with M D Morris, Grup Grip-in that he founded with his students at Bilkent University, the meetings arranged at LOFT, the Bunker Research Group and Barn Research Group with Camila Rocha. The artist’s solo exhibitions are “Festival Istambul Agora – Hüseyin Bahri Alptekin”, SESC Pompeia, São Paulo, “I Am Not A Studio Artist”, SALT, Istanbul, “Global Mockery”, Maison de Folie de Wazemmes, Lille, and “Kriz: Viva Vaia”, Dulcinea Gallery, Istanbul. Exhibitions he participated in include 2nd and 3rd Tirana Biennial; the Istanbul Biennial; Manifesta 5, San Sebastian; “How Latitudes Become Forms”, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Cetinje Biennial, for which he won the UNESCO Prize; the São Paolo Biennial.