Yasme Open: Nature, Art and Dialogue in Bolu
November 2026 – October 2027
BOLU
The project aims to foster interaction and dialogue among local artists, university students and the wider community through contemporary art in Elmalık Village, on Bolu Mountain, and in Bolu city centre. Through artistic production activities, a public exhibition and a contemporary art seminar hosted by the Yeşim Akçakaya Artist Residency (YASME), the project will promote cultural participation and local collaboration.
Artists from different cities across Türkiye who take part in the YASME residency programme will engage in collaborative artistic production and knowledge-sharing with local artists and university students in Bolu. This process will bring artistic experiences from different geographical and cultural contexts into dialogue with the local context, creating an environment for artistic exchange and mutual learning.
The public exhibition and contemporary art seminar will raise socio-cultural awareness through interaction and the exchange of experiences with local communities. At the same time, YASME’s natural surroundings will provide an opportunity to integrate ecological and sustainability perspectives into the artistic production and exhibition processes. Artists, students and audiences will be invited to explore and experience the relationship between nature and culture.
In this way, the project seeks to develop an integrated socio-cultural model that brings together contemporary art, youth, local culture, ecology and sustainability. Its long-term ambition is to establish art not merely as something to be viewed, but as a shared space for collective creation, discussion and experience.
The project is expected to make a tangible contribution to the lasting development of a pluralistic, accessible and participatory cultural environment in Bolu, while expanding young people's direct access to cultural production processes. Its outcomes will also help strengthen cultural memory among local communities and encourage young people to develop a stronger sense of social responsibility and awareness of social issues.
Ay ve Güneş Art Association
The Ay ve Güneş Art Association, the project’s implementing organisation, was established in 2025 to support artistic activities. Through its support for artist residency programmes, particularly YASME, the association aims to provide artists with dedicated spaces and opportunities for artistic production.
Painter Yeşim Akçakaya passed away at the age of 21 after an eight-year battle with leukaemia. Established by the Akçakaya family in 2024 in memory of Yeşim Akçakaya, the Yeşim Akçakaya Artist Residency (YASME) is a social responsibility initiative focused on the visual and contemporary arts.
With Dr Derya Yücel serving as artistic advisor and programme coordinator, YASME seeks to honour Yeşim’s memory while offering a distinctive and free working environment to young artists from diverse regions, ethnic backgrounds, gender identities and belief systems. The residency welcomes artists working across a range of disciplines, particularly painting, sculpture, photography and video art, and aims to foster lasting connections between artists and cities across Türkiye.
Having fully implemented its plans during its first three editions between 2024 and 2026, YASME has hosted 18 young artists and two art writers, selected from 117 applications. During this period, 17 leading professionals from the art world also visited the residency to engage directly with the artists and observe their work in progress.
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