Material: Plastic

Contemporary Art and Ecological Experiments (Production Workshop for Artists)

“Material: Plastic”

Workshop Facilitator: Sibel Horada

Date: 5, 7 and 8 May 2026

Time: 19:00-21:00

“Material: Plastic” is an artistic thinking program that explores the possibilities of life, destruction, and transformation through the material residues of discarded plastic objects. Throughout the three-day program, we will create focused spaces of attention by combining fragments of knowledge on the historical, chemical, and industrial processes of plastic with poetic thinking exercises.

Sibel Horada (1980, Istanbul), focuses on collective and personal histories with an interest in urban, archaeological and ecological cultures. She investigates memories of erasure with stories that weave together strange, coincidental details. For Horada, memory is not only the act of recollection, but also a process of reproduction and transformation. Using text and forms, she materializes her encounters in poetic sculptures and installations.

After completing her BA in Visual Arts at Brown University, USA in 2003, she pursued her MA in the Faculty of Art and Design at Yıdız Technical University. Her first solo exhibition, “Fire Chronicles” opened in 2012 at Daire Gallery. Her second one “a Fall”, followed the next year at the same gallery. “Zwei Positionen: Sibel Horada und Buket Savcı” opened as two simultaneous solos at Kunstverein Ludwigsburg in 2018. Later that year, “An Internal Garden” took place at Depo, Istanbul. In 2017, “Floating Tactics After a Sunken Island” at Daire Gallery was her first curatorial experience.

Horada’s recent group exhibitions include “Fluid Dynamics” at Versus Art Project (Istanbul, 2021), “Im/Permanent Liberty” at Bilsart (Istanbul, 2021), “Deep Current” at Halki Seminary (Heybeliada, Istanbul 2019), “Anarchitecture” at Ariel Sanat, 2017; “Port Izmir 3 -International Triennial of Contemporary Art”, İzmir, 2014; “Signs Taken in Wonder: Searching for Contemporary Istanbul”, 2013, MAK Museum, Vienna and Kunstverein Hannover; “HereTogetherNow Public Presentation”, 2013, MataderoMadrid; “An Attempt At Exhausting a Place”, Passover Bakery, 2013, Istanbul.

Horada was an artist in residence at Camargo Foundation (2020) as part of BMCT, SAHA Studio (2019), MataderoMadrid (2013) and AmongOtherThings in Bolu (2010). She was the recipient of HSBC sculpture competition in 2007.

She lives and works in Istanbul.

* During the pre-registration stage, you are expected to include a minimum 40-word text describing your artistic practice and motivation for participating in the workshop. Applications will be reviewed, and selected participants will receive invitations via email.

* This workshop is intended for participants working in contemporary art or aiming to engage in a process of artistic production and research focused on ecological processes, material research, and transformation. Regular attendance throughout the program is expected. Participation is free of charge and capacity is limited to 15 participants.

* To participate in the program, you can submit your application by filling out the pre-registration form via the “Register” button on the page. Registration will open one week before the first event (28.04.2026 at 19:00), and the “Register” button will become accessible from this date. 

Workshop Program

- 05.05.2026 Tuesday / 19:00 - 21:00 / On Production and Material (Online)

The first session will explore relationships with plastic material through the artist’s practice and various artistic approaches, opening a space for collective reflection and discussion on its conceptual and sensory possibilities.

- 07.05.2026 Thursday / 19:00 - 21:00 / Potentials of the Material (Online)

Following short presentations by participants on their individual practices, collective exercises will explore alternative ways of relating to and thinking through plastic as a material.

- 08.05.2026 Friday / 19:00 - 21:00 / On Exhibition Practices (Online)

In the final session, participants will share the ideas and directions they have developed throughout the process, and new possibilities will be discussed through the concepts of plastic, waste, and transformation.