‘We’ve Been at the Tapestry Studio Since the 90s’ centers on the art education practices of the Tapestry Studio, which operates under the Painting Department of Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University (MSGSÜ). Tracing the physical and conceptual connections carefully built since the studio’s founding, the exhibition presents a collage composed of collective productions, individual works, archival materials, and personal testimonies of artists who have passed through this space. The Tapestry Studio has carved out a unique position both within and beyond the institution through its pedagogical approach based on collaborative learning and its programs open to everyone, connecting tapestry weaving education with contemporary art. By challenging the gendered hierarchies and rigid bureaucracy inherent in academia through its principles and practices, the studio created a rare model—one that brings together students, artists, guests, and cultural workers around the same table, and most importantly, does not exclude the street. The dynamism initiated in the early 1990s by visual artist and academic Gülçin Aksoy (1965–2024), who was appointed as an assistant at the Tapestry Studio in 1992, along with a group of students and collaborators, transformed the studio. The resulting synergy flowed out of the open doors, both literally and figuratively, of Aksoy’s studio, spreading first through the corridors of the university and later into Istanbul’s contemporary art scene. In the 2000s, the studio’s production model expanded and diversified through its interactions with independent art initiatives, feminist circles, and interdisciplinary collectives in Istanbul. The exhibition sheds light on the shared practices that shaped the history of the studio.
The exhibition is on view at Salt Beyoğlu from September 19 to March 1.
