What happens when bees co-author an art exhibition? “Effective Encounters,” running at Offgrid Art Project, explores just that — melding human creativity with the relentless ingenuity of nature’s most efficient architects.
At its core is KovanProject (BeehiveProject), founded by artists Aslihan Mumcu and Beyza Durhan. Raised on opposite ends of Turkey, they crossed paths at the Nesin Arts Village in Turkey’s Aegean coastal town of Sirince, where their shared love for art and ecology took shape.
Durhan, from a family of beekeepers, and Mumcu, a ceramicist, have created “Iki Yuzlu Almanak” (Two-Faced Almanac), an ongoing visual dialogue that fuses plant life and found objects into textured installations.
Joining them is interdisciplinary artist Can Memisogullari, whose work blends digital media, sound and volcanic imagery to probe the power struggle between humans and the natural world. The exhibition itself is a living organism — constructed from repurposed materials, bioplastics and sculptures entwined with plants and hive remnants. Can humans and bees collaborate? If this show is any indication, the answer is yes.
Date: Until March 28
Location: Istiklal Cad. Imam Adnan sok. No. 6 Beyoglu/Istanbul
