Ahmet Ögüt

Ahmet Ögüt consistently seeks collaborators foreign to the art world, finding unique ways to grapple with weighty social issues, like religion and civil unrest, with a sense of humor. During a recent residency in Helsinki, he collaborated with local firemen to create a temporary book-printing workshop inside a fire truck, culminating in the collaborative printing of 1,500 banned books during a weeklong performance. His 2013 Visible Award–winning project, The Silent University (2012–present), is a knowledge-exchange program for asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants that probes the idea of silence as a passive state. Originally staged in the UK, the project has since extended to Stockholm and France. Ögüt has participated in a multitude of international exhibitions including the Sydney, Istanbul, Berlin, and Venice Biennales. He currently resides in Amsterdam, Berlin, and Istanbul.