Akbank 43rd Contemporary Artists Prize Exhibition, organized in cooperation with the Painting and Sculpture Museums Association and Akbank Sanat, in order to support developments in the field of contemporary art and support young artists, will be held at Akbank Sanat between 30 May – 31 July 2025. The works of 27 artists selected as a result of the evaluations of the jury members, will be on display for art enthusiasts to enjoy.
Artists
Dilara Altınkepçe Arslan, Bora Aşık, Ceren Aydoğdu, Dilruba Balak, İrem Bekmezci, Defne Cemal, Başak Çolak, Tuğba Demirbaş, Zehranur Buse Elçi, Ömer Tevfik Erten, Hüseyin Güler, Zeynep Habiboğlu, İsmail İfşa, Özge Kahraman, Zeynep Kılınç, Begüm Malkoçlar, Betül Odabaşı, Selin Özçiftçi, Yeşim Özkan, Özge Öztürk Şimşek, Deniz Özuygur, Heper Sayar, İrem Sür, Sevgi Tunçbilek, Bengisu Üstay, Rüken Delal Yıldız, Engin Deniz Zabcı
Curator
CerenErdem
Jury Members
Ceren Erdem, Ayşe Erek, Emre Hüner, Gönül Nuhoğlu, Derya Bigalı
The world is not round, but a web
Friendship and comradeship, among the most profound bonds of existence, have long woven individuals, communities, and even disparate species. Through laughter, communication, solidarity, and the cultivation of trust, these bonds have catalyzed the development of both individuals and societies. Yet, such connections are not confined to humans.
Today, friendship and comradeship are being reimagined across diverse dimensions- spanning personal relationships, social solidarity, ecological harmony, and inter-species affinities, as well as interactions with technology. Interspecies relations highlight the interconnectedness of humans, animals, plants, and the broader ecosystem, underscoring interdependencies that shape a collective future. Solidarity, meanwhile, transcends individual connections, forming the foundation of social struggles and redistributions of power.
This exhibition is an invitation to reconceptualise friendship, with its enduring strength and transformative potential, not solely as a personal experience but also as a network of relations extending into ecosystems, technologies, and the material world. It calls upon the audience to co-discover how these ties -whether formed through human companionship, the roots of a plant, or the mere presence of an object- make life more sustainable and imbue it with deeper meaningful.
Ceren Erdem