Misal Adnan Yıldız in collaboration with Leman Darıcıoğlu, Sarah Martinus, and Berk Akkaya, “…when one of us remembers who we really are, all of us remember…”, book launch, performance-based research and discussion
14 June 2025, 17:00Join us for the launch of Auditions for An Unwritten Opera, a new publication by Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden that revisits the 2023 experimental exhibition on the multifaceted work of British-born, Australian-Turkish Cypriot artist Mutlu Çerkez (1964–2005), curated and edited by Misal Adnan Yıldız. Exploring emotional intelligence, the collective unconscious, and conceptual thinking, the exhibition aimed to open a space between joy and grief. Featuring contributions from Pierre Bal Blanc and Alina Serban, the publication reimagines how exhibitions are remembered after they end by upcycling materials and reflecting on curatorial form and memory.
The evening unfolds as a rehearsal for a visual reading of the book, developed in collaboration with Berlin-based queer artist Leman Darıcıoğlu, whose performance—built from earlier works and props—channels Çerkez’s idea of rehearsal as a shared process. A conversation between Sārāh Mārtinus and Yıldız on shadow work, creativity, and the collective gaze anchors the event, alongside a screening of Raskol’s Axe (2013) by the collective İyi Saatte Olsunlar featuring the late activist Boysan Yakar, and scores from a recently cancelled performance program. Berlin-based artist Berk Akkaya is invited to rethink how we remember, save, and document performance-based queer works.
In collaboration with Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden
Free admission
Language: English
Duration: 120 mins.
Language: English
Duration: 120 mins.
Leman Sevda Darıcıoğlu is a multidisciplinary artist specialising in long-durational live performances, complemented by video, installation/sculpture, and public intervention works. With a focus on chronopolitics and necropolitics, Leman’s work centres on the vulnerability and resilience of marginalised bodies. They are Recipient of the Gwaetler Grant 2025, Gwaetler Foundation, CH.
Sārāh Mārtinus is a research-informed artist and ancestral lineage healer. Her work focuses on relational kinship practice, decentralizing, deconditioning, and decolonizing through process-led co-emergence and intrapsychic ecologies. She writes on themes of darkness, transformation, and intersectional shadow integrations.
Berk Akkaya is a visual artist whose cross disciplinary work explores queer politics, gaze, and fetish culture. Through intimacy, he challenges norms and rigid art hierarchies, inviting personal over fixed meaning. His practice draws on experiential psychology to guide self-discovery and empowerment.
Matter Of is a design studio from Stuttgart, focused on establishing trans-border visual practices. Matter of works on both practical design and conceptual consulting for institutions and projects with a focus on Art and Creative Direction. In addition to commissioned work, Matter of initiates its own projects and works in collaborations.
Misal Adnan Yıldız is a curator, researcher and educator. Recently, Yıldız co-curates the 20th edition of Mediterrenea, Biennial of Young Artists co-organised by BJCEM and ŠKUC as part of GO!25 in Nova Gorica/Gorizia (European Capital of Culture, 2025) featuring 94 positions from 16 countries as the selected international curator with Ljubljana based curator Tia Čiček.