Güneş Terkol, an Istanbul-based artist, earned her MA in the Multidisciplinary Art Department after studying painting. Terkol employs stitching or drawing directly onto cloth to create characters existing in an uncertain realm, characterised by ambiguous borders that encourage viewers to become storytellers. She embodies a communal spirit that goes beyond individual expression. Her collective banners featured in the Biennale Arte and in others produced in Turkey, China, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Austria, France, and Yogyakarta unite women internationally from diverse backgrounds. Through feminist workshops, Terkol establishes a platform for women to share experiences and address socioeconomic challenges through a collective conceptual process. By delving into each woman’s narrative and cultural context, Terkol designs the banner’s background image with expression spaces for individual stories within the collective narrative. These fabric banners, with their timeless tales, amplify women’s voices and foster a profound sense of community. Concurrently, Terkol’s artistic production undergoes a transformation through the participatory collective storytelling process, wherein women reinterpret their histories, current realities, and ways of being.
This is the first time the work of Güneş Terkol is presented at Biennale Arte.
—Arzu Yayıntaş
