Nancy Atakan & Dilek Aydın: Sweet Separation

Pi Artworks Istanbul presents the long-standing collaboration between Nancy Atakan and Dilek Aydın in their first joint exhibition, Sweet Separation. Running from 17 September to 31 October, the exhibition lays out a shared field of thought formed around the experience of birth, motherhood and creative production.

Sweet Separation is an interdisciplinary exhibition that addresses the profound, transformative and paradoxical nature of birth through the eyes of women working in creative fields. Birth is, at its core, an act of separation, the threshold moment at which mother and child are physically parted from one another. Yet this separation is not only an ending; it also marks a beginning, one from which a new life, new identities and new creative paths take root.

The exhibition brings together a new video work titled Sweet Separation, a sculptural installation composed of portrait postcards, an installation of baby blankets embroidered with personal texts, a neon work reading Bye Bye Baby, and two earlier video works by Nancy Atakan, Homage to Myrna Lewis and Mersin Hastanesi. Together, these works make visible the traces that the experience of birth leaves on women’s personal and creative lives, drawing intimate narratives and artistic ways of thinking into the same space.

The exhibition space draws the viewer into an atmosphere that is warm, open and conducive to reflection. The installations encourage slowness, close looking, deep listening and emotional encounter. The spatial arrangement, the textile works and the personal testimonies come together to offer a multi-layered, sensory experience that renders visible the often overlooked yet profoundly human and complex transformation of birth.

Exhibition Programme | Open Mic Sessions

The Open Mic Sessions held over the course of Sweet Separation aim to turn the exhibition space into a living space of exchange and to encourage the direct participation of visitors. Taking place two to three times during the exhibition, these special sessions will give women, either pre-registered or invited, ten minutes each to share their birth stories on a live stream. Each session will host a maximum of six participants and will last approximately one hour. By carrying the narratives explored in the exhibition beyond the works themselves, these events aim to open up space for improvised storytelling and for shared emotional experience to emerge.

Artists

Nancy Atakan

An artist who exhibits internationally and a co-founder of the Istanbul-based art initiative 5533. Her practice is shaped around memory, identity and women’s narratives.

Dilek Aydın

A filmmaker and curator working between Turkey and Germany, and the founder of Heimatlos Films.

Collaboration

Baby Blanket Design

Hülya Paker

Baby Blanket Knitting

Hülya Paker

Elena Nikolayeva

Kuşakk Women’s Collective

Blanket Photography

Esra Kent

Support Team

Elena Nikolayeva

Dilara Babajanova

Project Concept

Dilek Aydın and Nancy Atakan

Cinematography

Grzeg Waszczuk

Project Assistant

Can Küçük

Neon Fabrication

Zafer

Dates and registration details for the Open Mic Sessions will be announced at a later date.

 Sweet Separation is on view at Pi Artworks Istanbul until 31 October 2026.

Visiting hours:

Tuesday – Saturday, 10:00 – 18:30

Address: Pi Artworks Istanbul, Piyalepaşa İstanbul 32B, Beyoğlu, Istanbul Press and communications: ed@piartworks.com, info@piartworks.com, www.piartworks.com

Participants

Elif Uras

Nancy Atakan

Dilek Aydın

Jale Kutadgobilik

Beral Madra

Ayşe Kulin

Ela Başak Atakan

Nazlı Paker

Merve Ünsal

CANAN

Çiğdem Selışık

Larissa Araz

Felekşan Onar

Melida Tüzünoğlu

Esra Dermancıoğlu

Esra Karadeniz

Ayris Alptekin

Deniz Eyüboğlu Aydın

Nazlı Gürlek

Maria Sezer