Leman Sevda Darıcıoğlu

1985, b. Izmir. based on .

The artist produces mostly in the field of performance art but also (rarely) in other disciplines like installation, video, photography etc. She1 sees the process of making art as a performative research on theself and she ​ ​ uses the work as a tool to transform her limits, her boundaries and her subjectivity and also to create new ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ corporal concepts to think, to imagine, to dream, to act, to be and to become. Her works are based on this ​ ​ two layers: The transformative power of the body work and the intellectual/political/ethical concept (which speak with one voice to her) of the project. She views the body as a resource to be unravelled; as a ​ ​ ​ ​ laboratory of emotions, fears and limits; and as an intensity space of encounters. She believes in the power ​ ​ of the present and the touch. If and when she needs to define herself as an artist, she chooses to use the ​ ​ ‘queer artist’ title. Her take of ‘queer’ does not only refer to an area beyond heterosexuality and binary sex, but also to a space beyond normativity itself.

She had been in the advisory team of a series of queer theory writings called Queer Düş’ün [Queer ​ Fantasy/Thought/Dream] between 2012 - 2019 and has been the translator of some queer books in the selection, in Sel Publishing House. She also edited and compiled a queer theory book called Queer Temaşa ​ ​ [Queer Contemplation/Spectacle], as a part of the series (2016).

She was a member of Istanbul Queer Art Collective​ between 2014-2017. ​ ​ She pursued a queer collaborative performance project called fuckmekitty​ between 2016-2017. ​ ​ She continues to her performance works as a Performistanbul ​international performance platform artist since ​ ​ 2017.

Curated exhibitions

2016 Dream Pavilion w​ ith Yekhan Pınarlıgil and Murat Alat; as part of Unexpected Territories,​ 26. ​ ​ International TUYAP Istanbul Art Fair, TÜYAP, Istanbul, Turkey ​

Some of live performances

2019 Surrounded by water,​ 4 Hours, Kunstraum Gallery, As part of F U T U R E R I T U A L, Curated by Joseph Morgan Schofield, , England

1 * question​ of the pronouns has always been an issue to the artist. as someone who doesn’t identify theirself under binary gender system. performistanbul.org [email protected]

2019 Complete Incomplete​, 27 Days/6 Hours a Day, B2 House, Curator: Performistanbul, Çanakkale, Turkey

2019 (Trio) Sandra, Joseph and me: a Trio Ritual,​ 9 hours, under the tutorship of VestAndPage ​ and Andrigo&Aliprandi, as part of International Performance Art Week: Dis-Sensus, Performance ​ ​ art summer class, curated by VestAndPage and Andrigo&Aliprandi, C32 Performing Art Working Space, Forte Marghera, Venice, 2019 (Trio) Sandra, Joseph and me. For the first time,​ for 45min., under the tutorship of ​ VestAndPage and Andrigo&Aliprandi, as part of Venice International Performance Art Week: Dis-Sensus, ​ ​ Performance art summer class, curated by VestAndPage and Andrigo&Aliprandi, C32 Performing Art Working Space, Forte Marghera, Venice, Italy 2019 (Duo) A Friendship Laboratory On Challenge And Transformation,​ 3 days, 10 hours each ​ day, as part of International Performance Art Festival, curated by Emma Møller and Jørgen Callesen; ​ ​ Warehouse9, Copenhagen, Denmark 2019 (Solo) 3 days with MASA,​ 3 days, 8 hours each day, as part of Masa project, Blok Art ​ ​ ​ Space, with the cooperation of Performistanbul and Blok Art Space, Büyük Valide Han, Istanbul, Turkey

2018 (Performer in other artist's work) 24 hour host ​by Lauren McCarthy, performing for 24 hour ​ ​ ​ without interval, Digilogue, Zorlu Performing Arts Center, Istanbul, Turkey ​ ​ 2018 (Solo) waiting II: Darağaç,​ 24 hour-long without interval, as a part of exhibition Darağaç III, ​ ​ ​ curated by Darağaç Initiative, Umur bey area, Izmir, Turkey 2018 (Solo) calculus of mouth,​ 6 hours, Live stream Performance Art Pavillion in 18th Asia Art ​ ​ Biennale Bangladesh, curated by Mahburur Rahman, Shilpakala Academy, Dhaka, Bangladesh. ​ 2018 (Solo) The Punishment​, 2 hours, a Corner in the World Festival, curated by Burcu Yılmaz, ​ ​ ​ Claire Zerhouni and Fatih Gençkal, Bomontiada Alt, Istanbul, Turkey 2018 (Solo) waiting I,​ 2 hours, International Performance Art Festival 2018, curated by Emma ​ ​ ​ Møller, Gritt Uldall-Jessen and Jørgen Callesen; Warehouse9, Copenhagen, Denmark 2018 (Solo) Looking after a rose,​ 28 days without interval, needed:you, a 672 hours long live ​ ​ process, curated by Simge Burhanoğlu, Galata, Istanbul, Turkey ​

2017 (Solo) A place to die,​ 4 hours, under the tutorship of VestAndPage, Venice International ​ ​ Performance Art Week Co-Creation Prologue I, curated by Francesco Carol Rolla and VestAndPage; ​ Palazzo Mora, Venice, Italy 2017 (Collective) Come home – Home IV [​curated and tutored by VestAndPage], 2 hours, Venice ​ ​ International Performance Art Week Co-Creation Prologue I, curated by Francesco Carol Rolla and ​ VestAndPage, Palazzo Mora, Venice, Italy performistanbul.org [email protected]

2017 (Performer in other artist work) The Domain of things ​by Pedro Gomez-Egana, [performed 8 ​ hours, 3 times a week for 2 months], 15. Istanbul Biennale, curated by Elmgreen & Dragset, Istanbul, ​ ​ Turkey 2017 (Solo) Contour​, 2 hours, Mamut Performances Program “How Are You?” , curated by Simge ​ ​ ​ Burhanoğlu & Seyhan Musaoğlu, Mamut Art Project, Küçük Çiftlik Park, Istanbul, Turkey ​ ​ 2017 (Solo) Empoisened Princess,​ 10 days, 8 hours each day, ALAN Istanbul, with the ​ ​ ​ cooperation of Performistanbul and ALAN Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey

2016 (Solo) love tr,​ 3 hours, within Sevinç Altan exhibition Perde [Curtain], Faik Paşa Cad. No: 5 ​ Çukurcuma, Istanbul, Turkey 2016 (Solo) Who has come, who has gone,​ 6 days, 2 hours each day, Unexpected Territories,​ 26. ​ ​ ​ International TÜYAP Istanbul Art Fair, TÜYAP, Istanbul, Turkey ​ 2016 (Solo) X​, 6 hours, 44A Art Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey ​ ​ ​ 2016 (Solo) Ladylike,​ 90 minutes, Space Debris Art Space, Istanbul & 3 hours, as a part of ​ ​ ​ remembrance program for Boysan Yakar (a gay/drag queen activist/artist friend passed away in a traffic accident), Ark Kültür, Istanbul, Turkey ​ ​

2015 (Duo) iloveyou,​ 25 min., Istanbul LGBTI+ Pride Week, D22, Istanbul & Mimar Sinan Fine ​ ​ ​ Arts University Fındıklı, II. Visibility in Art Festival, Istanbul, Turkey ​ ​

Some of selected group exhibitions & art events

2 019 SHHH..!,​ Santralistanbul Energy Museum, Istanbul, Turkey ​ ​ unspeakable home, enchanting companions​, Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe, ​ ​ 2019 The I is Always In The Field of Other​, Evliyagil Museum, Ankara, Turkey ​ ​ 2019 Celebrating Mother Language,​ Shilpakala Academy, Dhaka, Bangladesh ​ ​

2018 This is not a performance​, Daire Sanat, Performistanbul, Istanbul, Turkey ​ ​

2017 Asian Women Artists,​ Jeonbuk Museum of Art, Jeonju, South Korea ​ ​ 2017 Akbank Contemporary Artist Prize Exhibition,​ Akbank Art Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey ​ ​

2016 V.PerfoArtNet International Performance Biennale​, Bogota, Colombia

Selected art events & venues where the artist performed as a member of Istanbul Queer Art ​ Collective

performistanbul.org [email protected]

Zürcher Theater Spektakel, Zurich, Switzerland; II. Sound Acts Festival, Athens, ; Les Belles de Nuit Festival, Photobastei, Zurich, Switzerland; Mamut Art Project, Istanbul, Turkey; Blok Art Space, Istanbul, Turkey

Artist residencies

2018 13-25 November Artist residency at Forum Dança Associação Cultural, curated by Sezen Tonguz, , Portugal

2018 14-22 April Artist residency at Warehouse9, curated by Emma Møller, Gritt Uldall-Jessen and Jørgen Callesen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Some of workshops & talks she led/gave

2019 Art, Body, Space,​ one week workshop, with Aslı Bostancı, Nesin Art Village, Izmir, Turkey ​ ​ 2019 Transparent area​, with Ali Emir Tapan, as part of needed:you 672 hours-long live process ​ first anniversary artist talks, Performistanbul, Istanbul, Turkey ​ ​ 2019 Queer performance. Talking about chance, challenge and transformation, r​ound table with Liad Hussein Kantorowicz and Maria Dolores, with the moderation of Gizem Aksu, Pembe Hayat Kuir Fest, ​ ​ Dramaqueer, Istanbul, Turkey 2019 How deep it is so true, how true it is so deep,​ performance art workshop for 2 days, Circuit ​ Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey ​ 2019 How deep it is so true, how true it is so deep,​ performance art workshop for 2 days, Performistanbul, Istanbul, Turkey ​

2018 Artist talk and presentation in the end of the residency period, Forum Dança, Lisbon, ​ ​ Portugal 2018 How deep it is so true, how true it is so deep, ​performance art workshop for 2 days, Forum ​ Dança, ​Lisbon, Portugal ​ ​ 2018 The body as a laboratory of emotions and fears or how did I transform by performance art?,​ artist talk, loading, Diyarbakır, Turkey ​ ​ 2018 Being one and one of the collective,​ 5 hours-long body/movement workshop, International Performance Art Week, Warehouse9, Copenhagen, Denmark ​ ​ 2018 LGBTI+ Art and Censorship​, International Performance Art Week, Warehouse9, ​ ​ Copenhagen, Denmark

2017 International Women Art Conference: The Femininity of Asian Women Artists​, Jeonbuk ​ performistanbul.org [email protected]

Museum of Art, Jeonbuk, South Korea ​

2016 Beyond the judgements,​ 4 hours-long body/movement workshop, Pembe Hayat LGBTT ​ Solidarity Association, Ankara, Turkey ​ 2016 Radical tenderness,​ 4 hours-long body/movement workshop, ÇATI Contemporary Dance ​ Artist Association, Istanbul, Turkey ​ 2016 What is hidden on the body I,​ 6 hours-long body/movement workshop, Ankara Feminist ​ Collective, Ankara, Turkey ​ 2016 With our body, With the earth,​ 3 hours, 2 days-long body/movement workshop, I. Siyah ​ Pembe Uçgen Queer Healing Camp, Izmir, Turkey ​

Some of workshops/classes she took

2019 Dis-Sensus,​ Intensive summer class for 10 days, Venice International Performance Art ​ Week, with the tutorship of VestAndPage and Andrigo&Aliprandi, C32 Performing Art Space, Venice, Italy ​ 2019 Cleaning The House,​ led by Paula Garcia, Lynsey Peisinger and Billy Zhao, Marina ​ Abramovic Institute, Evia, Greece ​ 2018 Cleaning The House,​ led by Paula Garcia, Marina Abramovic Institute, Serifos, Greece ​ ​ 2017 Co-Creation Factory Prologue I, Intensive 1 week workshop, Venice International ​ Performance Art Week, with the tutorship of VestAndPage, Palazzo Mora, Venice, Italy ​

Works in collections Hello I'm Leman, a woman artist from Turkey​, video performance work in Jeonbuk Museum of Art public art collection philia,​ video work in two private collections i​n Turkey ​ Untitled​ (photography work) in a private collection in Turkey

performistanbul.org [email protected]