Contemporary Turkish Art Takes Center Stage at Berlin’s POSITIONS Art Fair

Serving as an integral fixture of Berlin Art Week every September, the POSITIONS Berlin Art Fair convened the global art community for its 13th edition within the iconic hangars of Tempelhof Airport. Running from September 10 to 13, the fair brought together 86 galleries spanning 20 countries, anchored by a dedicated Spotlight on Turkey.

Framed by the organizers as an “intercontinental bridge,” this curatorial focus marks a significant moment of both geographical and cultural recognition. Given the long-standing history of the Turkish diaspora in Germany and the deep-seated artistic exchanges between the two nations, this spotlight feels particularly resonant.

Istanbul Galleries at Tempelhof

Leading the Turkish gallery contingent at Tempelhof were Istanbul-based spaces Anna Laudel, Ambidexter, and Sanatorium. Sanatorium stood out as a particularly compelling presence; alongside its footprint in Istanbul, the gallery maintains spaces in New York, Vienna, Dubai, Düsseldorf, and Çanakkale, championing internationally recognized Turkish artists on a global platform.

The Featured Artists

Five practices stood out at the heart of this year’s Turkish focus:

Simla İçeli (Ambidexter, Istanbul): İçeli explores themes of discipline, punishment, and play through soft, pastel-hued compositions. Appropriating imagery from Turkish pop culture, she visually interrogates patriarchal structures.

Ece Özel (Ambidexter, Istanbul): Also an active DJ, Özel translates the energy of electronic music into luminous paintings. Her works feature faceless figures and transient silhouettes that embody a nightclub aesthetic, existing in a realm between night and day.

Ardan Özmenoğlu (Anna Laudel, Istanbul): Working with post-it notes, glass sheets, and neon, Özmenoğlu transforms everyday materials into three-dimensional constructions that ironically critique Turkey’s patriarchal macho culture—promising to be one of the most compelling stops along the fair’s aisles.

Oğulcan Kuş (Anna Laudel, Istanbul): Navigating between American pop culture and Turkish heritage, Kuş derives his distinct geometric abstraction from an intriguing historical source: the figurative prohibitions in Ottoman art and the abstract forms of Islamic tradition.

Erol Eskici (Sanatorium, Istanbul): Investigating morphological processes through ink-based works, Eskici chooses not to depict an existing reality, but rather to simulate natural processes of transformation. The resulting forms are organic, unsettling, and mesmerizing.

Collecting Art at Tempelhof

POSITIONS distinguishes itself from other art fairs by actively fostering accessibility. The Selected POSITIONS section offers works priced up to €2,500, explicitly designed as an entry point for emerging collectors. Additionally, this edition introduced Design POSITIONS, a new sector spotlighting 11 Berlin-based designers working at the intersection of art and design.

Awards and Side Programs

The highly anticipated Zilkels Best Booth Award was awarded to Galerie Met this year. The Fine Art Academy Award, supporting emerging talent with a €3,000 prize, went jointly to Rosalie Becher and Helen Vogelsang. Meanwhile, the Heussen Perspectives Award recognized Luca Di-Febo, Leonie Lass, and Anna Wandaller.

The Significance of the Turkish Focus

Germany is home to over three million people of Turkish descent, with Berlin housing one of the largest Turkish diaspora communities in the world. Yet, Turkish contemporary art remains underrepresented across major Western art institutions. POSITIONS works to bridge this gap at the gallery, artist, and market levels.

Hearing these voices from Istanbul resonate throughout the vast hangars of Tempelhof made this year’s fair particularly meaningful.