Esra Nesipoğulları (1991), born and raised in Turkey, is an architect / multidisciplinary artist currently based in Mantua, Italy. She primarily works in contemporary drawing and digital drawing. Her focus lies in exploring textual materials, alphabets, syntax, fragmentation, reality, and borders. Her artistry traverses various mediums, demonstrating the interplay between language, identity, and spatial constructs.

Her work is characterized by a meticulous deconstruction of linguistic elements and their visual representation. Through her projects such as Architecture of Alphabets, she delves into the intricate structures of language, interrogating its cultural and political implications. Her series on Middle Eastern Identities offers an examination of cultural hybridity and diasporic experiences, employing pixel mapping techniques to convey the complexities of identity formation in the digital age.

She has participated in several group exhibitions in France and the UK. During her academic pursuits, she undertook two residency programs in Toulouse and Marseille involving physical construction work, enriching her practice. In 2013, she traveled to Cuba for research in urbanism, broadening her understanding of how different epistemologies shape cultures and environments. After years working in architectural design offices across London, Istanbul, and continually Verona, she transitioned to artistic researches and studio practice in 2020, while maintaining engagement in architectural office work. Her practice often respond to present social and political concerns. She is co-partner of a research think tank Al Mukhatab focuses on decolonial thinking and museum studies since 2021 with Amal Muntaser. 

 

Education

2009-2015: BA in Architecture, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Istanbul, TR

2017-2020: MA in Architecture and History, Politecnico di Milano, Mantua, IT

 

Grants / Residencies

2021   TRACCE #3,  A.U.T. Rezidenza Artistica, Bari, IT

2013    Emre Arolat Researching Scholarship , EAA, Istanbul, TR

2011   Mamak Housing Design Competition (2nd Mention), Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects, Ankara, TR

 

Selected lectures /  Presentations

2022  Spatial organisations of socialist urbanism, Corvetto NZSD Workshop, Viafarini Milano, Milano, IT 

 https://www.viafarini.org/470/corvetto-nzsd/

2021   Museology as a Multidimentional Phenomenon, Practices of rupture. Toward a reparative justice, Archive Milano, Milano, IT

 https://www.archivesites.org/2021/11/18/practices-of-rupture-toward-a-reparative-justice/

2020   Makoko  The Amphibian City,  Official entry to SEOUL Biennale’21, Seoul, KR

(A collaborative to delve into acknowledging and constructing new urbanism (in collaboration with various architects, artists, and researchers)

2014    Spatial Organisation of  Public Squares- Case study: Santa Clara – Cuba, Karaburun Science Congress, Izmir, TR

kongrekaraburun.org/tam-metinler/esra-nesipogullari

2012    Transformation, Urban Identity and  Perception of Space, Karaburun Science Congress, Izmir, TR

kongrekaraburun.org/category/gecmis-kongreler/kongre-2012/

 

Selected exhibitions

2023   QUT – Tout commence par une interruption, Le Citizen Hotel, Paris, FR

2022  1989: The Postcollapse in Art and Culture, Cerritos College Art Gallery, Los Angeles, USA

2020   Monaco Art Fair Art3f – Represented by Van Gogh Gallery, Monaco, FR

2020   In 24-Hours , The Wall Space Gallery,  Scotland, UK

2020   In Isolation Together, Artcore Gallery, UK

2014  Des Européens rassemblés à Fontlongue, CYME Association Center, Miramas, FR

 

Selected Press

Valentina Barbieri, “Mantova: una valigia abbandonata e i ricordi del passato, così Esra ha ricostruito il mistero della soffitta” in Gazetta di Mantova,2020.

Yetişkinler İçin Genç Sanat, Misar art, Online source: misarart/youtube  consulted on February 2021 

Collections

Private collections in Turkey, Italy, France and Germany.