Zehra Doğan's Prison Art Exhibitions in Berlin and Milan Highlight Kurdish Women's Resistance
Zehra Doğan, born in 1989 in Diyarbakır, Turkey, is a Kurdish artist and journalist known for her politically charged artwork. From 2016 to 2019, she was incarcerated for 'terrorist propaganda' due to a painting depicting the devastation of Nusaybin. While in prison, she created art using found objects, including pieces like 'Hey soldier; you can't make strip search. I'm already naked' (2018) and 'Shahmeran's pain' (2016). Alongside fellow female detainees, she helped produce a newspaper titled 'Özgür Gündem Zindan.' A graduate of Dicle University in fine arts, she also established the all-women news agency JINHA. Her solo shows include 'Prison No. 5' at Kiosk in Berlin, running through August, and 'Il tempo delle farfalle' at PAC in Milan until 19 September. The Kurdish community has endured oppression since 1919.
Key facts
- Zehra Doğan was imprisoned from 2016 to 2019 in Turkey for a painting depicting military destruction in Nusaybin.
- She produced art in prison using materials like menstrual blood, coffee, and urine on smuggled cloth and newspaper.
- Doğan founded the all-women news agency JINHA and worked as a reporter in Kurdish regions.
- Her solo exhibition 'Prison No. 5' is at Kiosk, Maxim Gorki Theatre, Berlin, through August.
- Another exhibition 'Il tempo delle farfalle' is at PAC – Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea, Milan, until 19 September.
- She studied fine art at Dicle University in Diyarbakır and attended classes at the Mesopotamia Cultural Center.
- Doğan's work blends Mesopotamian myth with contemporary feminist and Kurdish resistance themes.
- She rejects the 'activist artist' label, aligning with Third Worldist liberation traditions.
Entities
Artists
- Zehra Doğan
- Ai Weiwei
- Banksy
- Frantz Fanon
Institutions
- JINHA
- Özgür Gündem
- Özgür Gündem Zindan
- Mesopotamia Cultural Center
- Dicle University
- Kiosk, Maxim Gorki Theatre
- PAC – Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea
- ArtReview Asia
Locations
- Diyarbakır
- Turkey
- Amed
- Iraq
- Iran
- Syria
- Nusaybin
- Tarsus Prison
- Mardin
- Berlin
- Germany
- Milan
- Italy
- Europe
- Kurdistan
- Algeria
- Cuba
- Guinea-Bissau
- Africa
- Asia
- Latin America