Eda Emirdag is a visual artist and creative producer from Istanbul, Turkey. From 24 February – 12 March, Eda is undertaking an artist residency between Open Eye Gallery and University of Salford, and Islington Mill and Manchester Metropolitan University, to explore the international dialogue and practice of socially engaged photography. Eda is also working with the Montag Residency programme in Turkey, an independent initiative run by artists and cultural workers in Balıkesir Gönen. As a project-based and collaborative artistic production space, it is open to artists, art professionals, curators, art writers, initiatives, and non-profit organisations. Montag experiences socially engaged art practices by bringing together local cultural values and contemporary art professionals.
Eda’s work explores photography ethics, collaboration, archive and image and experiments with mediums such as video, photography, collage and performance. For her residency here in the North West of England, she will be further developing an on-going body of work, Belly Button.
Belly Button is the outcome of a comprehensive artistic research project that she conducted in Turkey between 2021 and 2024. In this project, the artist examines the effects of the beauty industry on the female body. She wants to discuss the effects of plastic surgery and the beauty industry on body politics. The visual material for the artwork continues to be collected and analysed in depth and will continue to be developed further in collaboration with students at University of Salford and Manchester Metropolitan University and young people from Open Eye Gallery’s socially engaged programme in Sefton, through a series of zine, game and collage workshops.
There will also be a series of public events across the residency partners venues including a zine launch, video essay digital window exhibition and a SEPN (Socially Engaged Photography Network) talk with Open Eye Gallery’s Head of Social Practice and University of Salford’s Liz Wewiora and Dr Helen McGhie from Manchester Metropolitan University.
This programme is supported by British Council Turkey, and the SAHA foundation.
News, Exhibitions, Opportunities and more.