Pioneering artist Suzanne Lacy brings 5 decades of gender focused art to Istanbul

Sabanci University Sakip Sabanci Museum in Istanbul hosts the first exhibition in Türkiye by American feminist artist Suzanne Lacy.

The show, titled "Birlikte/Together," brings together works that Lacy has created over more than 50 years and presents them with support from the Sabanci Foundation.

The museum displays her well known participatory performances, which merge art, politics, and public dialogue.

Lacy is renowned for bringing large groups of volunteers into her projects, especially women and young people, and creating living scenes that explore identity, violence, economic hardship, aging, and social change.

Each installation at the museum carries the emotional memory of these public performances and guides visitors through a wide range of questions that link art to civic life.

During the opening tour, Sabanci Foundation Chair Guler Sabanci said Lacy’s work encourages participation, collective responsibility, and solidarity.

“Art is one of the most powerful fields that nourishes social conscience. As women’s stories become visible, society begins to change,” she said, describing how visibility transforms public life.

Museum Director Ahu Antmen described Lacy as a global pioneer of participatory performance and said the exhibition builds a strong connection with Türkiye’s long standing struggle for gender equality.

Suzanne Lacy presents 5 decades of feminist performance in Istanbul

"Birlikte/Together" offers a wide selection of Lacy’s long term projects.

Key works include:

• "Whisper, the Waves, the Wind" (1983–1984) and "The Crystal Quilt" (1985–1987), which examine aging and the everyday experiences of older women.
• Between the "Door and the Street" (2013), a project that gathers intergenerational conversations on education, work, family, and migration.
• "By Your Own Hand" (2014–2015), which focuses on violence against women. Men who joined year long workshops in Ecuador took part in public readings of letters written by more than ten thousand women.
• Early feminist works from the 1970s that shaped Lacy’s practice.

The exhibition follows the artist’s approach to participation and community involvement. Her practice brings volunteers from different backgrounds into a shared space and turns social issues into collective, visual experiences. The museum’s displays transform these performances into installations that viewers can study in depth.

The Sabanci Foundation’s long running support for gender equality is also part of the exhibition narrative. The Foundation has funded projects that address early and forced marriages, access to education for girls, the empowerment of women, and broader civil society initiatives for nearly two decades.

The opening program includes an artist talk on September 13 with Suzanne Lacy and Museum Manager Ahu Antmen. A catalog with essays, documents, and a visual archive accompanies the exhibition. The museum is also working with Sabanci University Center of Excellence in Gender and Women’s Studies to organize public programs throughout the exhibition period.

"Birlikte/Together" remains open at Sakip Sabanci Museum’s Gallery 2 until December 14, 2025.

The museum advises visitors that the work "By Your Own Hand" contains sensitive material and is suitable for visitors aged 13 and over.

The exhibition positions Suzanne Lacy’s practice as a public conversation on art, gender, and social responsibility. As Lacy has said, “The importance of art comes from its ability to be useful to people.”

December 04, 2025 10:36 AM GMT+03:00