Murat Kahya’s artistic practice centers on transforming photography into multi-dimensional installations
by integrating video, sound, and found objects. His early investigations into the limitations of the two-
dimensional image, developed during his undergraduate studies through series such as ‘’White Tension’’ and ‘’New Americana’’, culminated in the 2018 project ‘’Intertwined’’, which gave physical form to his search for new photographic expressions.
Since 2019, Kahya has focused on a long-term research project centered on the Kızılırmak River. This journey has evolved from a visual study into a multi-sensory narrative exploring memory, geography, andthe flow of time. In 2021, he participated in the Darağaç Collective’s public-space exhibition Temas with ‘’Passageway’’, a work examining perceptions of interior and exterior space through light and sound. The project continued to unfold at Galeri Zilberman’s Young, Fresh, Different (2022), where he presented sound installations and landscapes intertwining personal memory with place. This research deepened further with ‘’Below’’ (2023) at Simbart Project, a layered representation of the river’s flow, and culminated in the interactive exhibition ‘’Endless Landscapes’’ (2024) at Bilsart Istanbul, which incorporated water and recordings from five years of fieldwork.
Expanding his practice through recent residencies, Kahya developed ‘’Seesaw: What I Heard and Saw’’ at Daire Sanat, fusing a decade of archival photographs with spontaneous urban text a project currently evolving into a sculptural photo-book. Most recently, during a residency organized by the French Consulate in Corsica, he explored themes of migration and borders. The resulting narrative, ‘’Just Arrived: Here, There, Over There’’, constructed through the lens of a migrant’s perspective, was exhibited across Ankara, Izmir, and Corsica, establishing new dialogues with each location.
Treating each journey as an entry into uncharted territory, Kahya aims to present the artistic process itselfas the work. His installations invite the audience to move beyond a mere visual connection, encouraging them to engage with the unknown and become an integral part of the process.
info@muratkahya.com
IG @mratkahya