Lives and works in Izmir
Betül Aksu’s practice explores how boundaries appear in everyday life, focusing on the role of language within bureaucratic and geopolitical systems. Working across installation, performance, text, video, and print, she examines language as both a mechanism of control and a site of resistance.
She weaves together personal experience, archival material, and fictional narratives to critically examine the relationship between identity and the structures that govern movement and access. Central to her practice is an inquiry into how bureaucratic systems shape our understanding of freedom, belonging, and personal identity.
Her approach interrogates the function of language within institutional frameworks, revealing how it reinforces barriers to inclusion and mobility. By engaging with immigration policies, official documents, and regulatory language, she exposes and challenges the mechanisms that limit participation, reimagining language as a space for resistance, redefinition, and connection.
Bio
Betül Aksu holds a BA in Linguistics from Hacettepe University, an MSc in Cognitive Science from Trento University, an MSc in Language Science and Technology from Saarland University, and studied for a PhD in Media and Arts Technology at Queen Mary University of London. Her diverse academic background informs her approach, blending theory and practice to critique societal structures.
She has participated in the SAHA Studio residency (2024) in Istanbul, the BAK Fellowship for Situated Practice (2023–2024) at BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht, the Istanbul Biennial Production and Research Programme at IKSV (2022), and the School of Commons Research Residency (2021–2022). In 2023, she founded sezon, an independent art space in Izmir dedicated to exploring the politics and poetics of change. Her recent solo exhibitions include Permessus at AVTO, Istanbul (2024) and hold, place, transfer, repeat at Material, Zurich (2024).
She is currently a residency artist at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA).
betulaksu[at]protonmail.com
instagram.com/betulaksu
2015-2020 PhD (not completed), Media and Arts Technology, Queen Mary University of London, UK
2014-2015 MSc, Language Science and Technology, Saarland University, Germany
2013-2014 MSc, Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Italy
2009-2013 BA (Hons), English Linguistics, Hacettepe University, Türkiye
2025 Dwell Here Residency, Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), Dublin, Ireland
2024 SAHA Studio, Istanbul, Türkiye
2023-2024 BAK Fellowship for Situated Practice, BAK basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht, Netherlands & Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV), Istanbul, Türkiye
2022 The Istanbul Biennial Production and Research Programme, Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV), Istanbul, Türkiye
2021-2022 School of Commons, Zurich University of the Arts, Zurich, Switzerland & online
2017 AltCity Istanbul Digital Arts Residency, British Council & Zorlu PSM, Istanbul, Türkiye
2024 Permessus, AVTO, Istanbul, Türkiye
hold, place, transfer ↵ repeat, Material, Zurich, Switzerland
2025 to carry, Sharjah Biennial 16, Sharjah, UAE
v,o,w,e,l,h,a,r,m,o,n,y with Memed Erdener, Hayy Open Space, Izmir, Türkiye
2024 New Lands, Arkas Sanat Alaçatı, curated by Necmi Sönmez, Izmir, Türkiye
2023 Sidestep/reproduced//insolently, 5533, curated by Fırat Yusuf Yılmaz, Istanbul, Türkiye
öncesi, sezon, Izmir, Türkiye
2022 If It Is A Garden That Has Become A Wilderness, School of Commons, Zurich, Switzerland
Hikayeler yürür, Kasa Gallery, curated by Emre Akaltın, Istanbul, Türkiye
This is not a chance encounter, Journeys Festival International, Leicester, UK
Young Fresh Different 11, Zilberman Gallery, Istanbul, Türkiye
Kronos Orada Değildi, altatölye, curated by İrem Hasçiftçi Kurt, Ankara, Türkiye
Coulisse, Mixer, curated by Eda Öztürk, Istanbul, Türkiye
2021 Nothing’s gonna change my world?, gr-und, Berlin, Germany
In Your Hands, Newlyn Art Gallery, Cornwall, UK
Kula, Ecumene Project, online
2020 Freedom of Movement?, Journeys Festival International, online
The Garden of Forking Paths, Ars Electronica, online
Take Dada Seriously? (it’s worth it?), Decorating Dissidence & Guest Projects London, online
2019 Weave It!, Stour Space, London, UK
Peripheries, The Glucksman Gallery, Cork, Ireland
2018 Error: The Art of Imperfection, Ars Electronica, Linz, Austria
2016 Intersections, Mile End Art Pavilion, London, UK
2015 Dorkbot London #90, Limehouse Town Hall, London, UK
2024 Global Talent, BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht, Netherlands
Still in my quotidian, de Appel, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2022 Bureau of Commons: London entry, Victoria Park, London, UK
Bureau of Commons: Venice entry, Venice, Arsenale & Giardini, Italy
officialese: from Taksim Gezi Park to Tünel and back, Istanbul, Türkiye
2021 Bureau of Commons: Zürich entry, Zurich, Switzerland
2024-2025 Vranofça Archive, sezon, Izmir, Türkiye
2023 before, sezon, Izmir, Türkiye
2022 This is not a chance encounter, Journeys Festival International, Leicester, UK
2023 Guest Lecturer Film Interiors, Department of Interior Design, Bilgi University, Istanbul, Türkiye
2020 Guest Lecturer Research Methods and Responsible Innovation, EECS, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
2016-2021 TA Professional & Research Practice, EECS, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
2017-2018 TA Graphical User Interfaces, EECS, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
2016-2018 TA Interaction Design, EECS, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
2025 book Day to Day, YAZ Publication Series
2024 essay Emir kipinden süzülerek, katlar arası, Unlimited Publications
2022 book This is not a chance encounter, lemma_space
essay Adım Adım Büyücü ve Bahçe, manifold
essay We scan your documents on your behalf, School of Commons Issues
2021 essay Merits of Eligibility: rethinking criteria in art open calls, School of Commons Issues
book Researching the Researcher, School of Commons
2025 review Still in My Quotidian: Yani, how to break a broken language, Esra Oskay, m-est.org (TR)
review Dünyalı Olmak ya da Olmamak, Ozan Özkan, Sanat Dünyamız, 204, sf. 142-147 (TR)
review “Ses Uyumu”na deri-ben üzerinden bir yaklaşım, Ezgi Ceren Kayırıcı, Argonotlar (TR)
interview s,e,s,u,y,u,m,u, Merve Akar Akgün, ArtUnlimited (TR)
video Betül Aksu ve Memed Erdener - s,e,s,u,y,u,m,u - Hayy Open Space, İzmirArt (TR)
2024 video Betül Aksu | SAHA Studio 8. Dönem | SAHA Studio 8th Term, SAHA Studio (TR)
interview Yaratıcı Sürecin Değişkenleri: SAHA Studio’da Sanatçılarla Ara Dönem Buluşması, Serra Oruç, Artful Living (TR)
review The Imagined Reality of Betül Aksu’s “Permessus”, Alfonse Chiu, ArtAsiaPacific (HK)
review Free Verse // Closed Circuit: The Words and Works of Betül Aksu, Amy Gowen, The Contrapuntal (NL)
interview Sınır müzakereleri: Betül Aksu ile Permessus’un tahayyülü üzerine, Fırat Yusuf Yılmaz, Argonotlar (TR)
review Dilin yol boyu sezgiyle ifadesi, Burçak Fakıoğlu Yakıcı, Unlimited Publications (TR)
podcast Ve Diğer İşler podcast
2023 podcast Yaratıcı Eylem ve Sanatsal Üretim - Ezgi Bakçay & Betül Aksu, Part 1, Part 2, yermekân