SAHA provides production and publication support for Gülsün Karamustafa's new work titled Hollow and Broken: A State of the World, exhibited at the Venice Biennale Türkiye Pavilion from April 20 to November 24, 2024.

The 12-author book, which brings new perspectives to Karamustafa's oeuvre from the 60s to the present day, was published in Turkish as well as in English for international readers. The project and the book were edited by Melis Cankara and the graphic design by Esen Karol. Complementing the exhibition, the publication consists of four parts: two separate books focusing on the Venice project and the artist's previous works, a folded poster between them, and a tape holding all these parts together.

Karamustafa’s installation will comprise an interconnection of sculptural works from found materials, inviting viewers to reflect on the current state of the world, akin to the tragic feeling of a tumultuous reality and issues threatening humanity. Space plays a central role in the exhibition for the artist, championing unconventional methods and disparate materials, exploring themes of turmoil and portraying “the world, a battlefield" as an "endlessly shifting ground". In an element of the installation, the artist alludes to the perpetual conflicts among faiths that, throughout history, have never ceased fighting one another.

A book accompanying the exhibition will include essays written by 12 authors on each of the materials used in Gülsün Karamustafa's new work, short articles on the artist's previous works related to her new work, an interview with the artist, and sketches. Edited by Melis Cankara and designed by Esen Karol, the book published in two volumes, Turkish and English. Yelta Köm is the design consultant of the exhibition.

About Gülsün Karamustafa
Gülsün Karamustafa (b. 1946, Ankara) is an internationally acclaimed artist known for her materially and methodologically diverse works that are born out of personal and historical narratives. Throughout her densely woven artistic production that spans over five decades, Karamustafa has been utilising varied techniques, mediums, and methods to create paintings, installations, ready-mades, assemblages, photographs and videos that mainly scrutinise and showcase the historical injustices within the socio-political realm. Primarily focused on issues related to the modernization of Turkey, displacement, memory, migration, and gender, Karamustafa is hailed as one of the most outspoken and influential contemporary artists in Turkey that has inspired the new generation of artists.

About Türkiye Pavilion
The Türkiye Pavilion exhibition is coordinated by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye, with the contribution of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, with the global partnership and airline partnership of Turkish Airlines and with the production and publication support of SAHA Association. SAHA is among the 21 supporters of the Pavilion of Türkiye's permanent venue. Through the allocation of this space at the Arsenale for the 2014-2034 period, Pavilion of Turkey has been alternately participating in International Architecture Exhibition and International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale since 2014.