Salt Artistic Research and Production Grant Program
2024-2025 Projects
In collaboration with the BBVA Foundation
Salt, in collaboration with the BBVA Foundation, is pleased to announce the Salt Artistic Research and Production Grant Program recipients.
This year’s selection committee comprised Vasıf Kortun (Curator), Elvira Dyangani Ose (Director, Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona), Manuel Segade (Director, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía), Ala Younis (Artistic Director, Akademie der Künste der Welt), Fatma Çolakoğlu (Director, Salt Research and Programs), and Juan Pujol Rodríguez (Assistant Director, BBVA Foundation).
After evaluating 193 applications, the committee selected Aslı Uludağ’s project Geothermalisms for the Artistic Research Grant. The committee awarded two projects for the Production Grant: Ali Taptık’s Looking at Osmanbey: Social and Spatial Entanglements of Fashion Trade and Merve Mepa’s An Interwoven Network: Threads and Trace. Regarding the selections, the committee has stated: “The Research Grant has been unanimously awarded to Aslı Uludağ for her project on the material politics of geothermal energy development in the Aegean Region of Türkiye. The proposal stood out for its exceptional depth, commitment to the research topic, and scholarly elaborateness of its approach. Both finalists for the Production Grant, Ali Taptık on fashion trade in Osmanbey and Merve Mepa on the interactions and intersections between humans, craft, and technology, presented compelling proposals with substantial artistic merit. The jurors opted to support both projects, considering their exceptional nature. We acknowledge that their projects represent different artistic approaches, and we believe funding both will contribute to a more diverse artistic landscape.”
Aslı Uludağ will receive 20,000 Euros for the Artistic Research Grant; Ali Taptık and Merve Mepa will receive 10,000 Euros each for the Production Grant in funding support for their projects. The artists will present their work at Salt (Türkiye) and the BBVA Foundation (Spain) in 2025.
About the Artists
Aslı Uludağ received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and her MA in Research Architecture from Goldsmiths, University of London. Through her research-based practice, she explores the legal, architectural, and techno-scientific structures that organize the relationship between humans and the environment and investigates the violence enacted through these processes. She proposes alternative modes of engaging with the environment through performative and interactive installations, workshops, and speculative narratives. The exhibitions she took part in include What Water Knows, Pilot Gallery, Istanbul (2022); 5th Istanbul Design Biennial (2020); A Handful of Rights, Pera Museum, Istanbul (2018); and Dissecting Signifiers, Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago (2016). She is among the recipients of the Prince Claus Mentorship Award (2022) and co-founder of Practices of Attunement.
Ali Taptık is an artist and publisher focusing on the representation of urban landscape and architecture, the relationship between the individual and the city, psychogeography, and the interaction of literature and visuality. In addition to working with institutions to document and research the ever-changing landscape of Istanbul, Taptık has published several books, including Kaza ve Kader (Filigranes Editions, 2009), Depicting Istanbul (Akin Nalca, 2010), There are no failed experiments (Atelier de Visu, 2012), and Nothing Surprising (Marraine Ginette, 2015). Her works have been exhibited in various institutions, including the Pera Museum, Salt (Istanbul), MAXXI (Rome), Ashkal Alwan (Beirut), and the Venice Biennale for Architecture. Taptık was one of the founders of the Bandrolsüz collective for distributing independent artists’ books and the Initiative for the Preservation of Historic Yedikule Gardens. Taptık works as the editor-in-chief of Onagöre︎︎︎, a publishing, research, and design studio, and as a curatorial advisor for 212 Photography Istanbul.
Merve Mepa explores the interactions between material forms and social discourse in handicraft production practices, drawing, printmaking, internet networks, video, and experimental electronics. She focuses on the historical evolution of tradition, labor, cultural sciences, and the modes and methods of production of technologies. After completing her undergraduate studies in mathematics and painting, she continues her PhD studies at the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Department of Painting.
The BBVA Foundation, as the corporate social responsibility of the BBVA Group, is committed to advancing society by promoting and disseminating knowledge through research-based, artistic, cultural, and scientific projects.
In collaboration
About the Selection Committee
Vasıf Kortun is a curator, writer, and educator in visual art, its institutions, and spatial practices. He was the founding director of Salt Research and Programs (2011-2017), the founder of Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center in Istanbul (2001-2010), and the first director of the Museum of the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College in New York (1994-1997). Kortun has co-curated the Taipei Biennial (2008) and the 9th International Istanbul Biennial (2005). He was one of the co-curators of the 24th São Paulo Biennial (1998) and the director and chief curator of the 3rd International Istanbul Biennial (1992). Kortun also curated the UAE Pavilion for the Venice Biennale (2011) and the Turkish Pavilion for the São Paulo Biennial (1994 and 1998) and the Venice Biennale (2007). He is a recipient of the Award for Curatorial Excellence from CCS, Bard College. Recent publications he edited include İpek Duben: The Skin, Body, and I (Salt & Mousse Publications, 2024), Serseri Mayın: Gürel Yontan [Loose Cannon: Gürel Yontan] (Salt, 2023), and Sentez ve Montaj: Özer Kabaş Yazıları [Montage or Synthesis: Texts of Özer Kabaş] (Salt, 2022). Kortun has taught as a guest professor in many institutions, including Istanbul Bilgi University (2009-2012); NABA, Milan (2008-2011, 2014); Sommerakademie, Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern (2009); Mimar Sinan University and Istanbul Kültür University (2004-2005); HISK, Netherlands Institute of Fine Arts (1999, 2003-2005); Konstfack, Stockholm (2001-2002, 2004); and Helsinki Academy of Fine Arts (2000-2003, 2005).
Elvira Dyangani Ose is the director of the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA). She has been the director and chief curator of The Showroom, London; a lecturer in Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London; and a member of the Thought Council at Fondazione Prada, Milan. She was previously the curator of the Göteborg International Biennial of Contemporary Art; curator of international art at Tate Modern, London; artistic director of the Rencontres Picha–Lubumbashi Biennial; curator of contemporary art at the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo (CAAC), Seville; senior curator at Creative Time, New York; and curator of contemporary art at the Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno (CAAM) in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria.
Manuel Segade is the director of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid. He trained as an art historian and led the CA2M Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo in the Madrid municipality of Móstoles for ten years, where he was awarded the CIMAM Outstanding Museum Practice Award in 2021. Segade has taught in postgraduate curatorial programs and is the author and editor of numerous books, including Elements of Vogue, Kiss My Genders, and Endgame: Duchamp, Chess and the Avant-Gardes. He is a founding member of the European Art Assembly and the European Forum for Advanced Practices. Segade curated the Spanish Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale in 2017.
Ala Younis is an artist working on curatorial, film, and publishing projects. She presented her work in solo shows in Amman, Dubai, Sharjah, New York, London, Seville, and Prague. She also participated in group exhibitions, including the Venice, Istanbul, Gwangju, Ljubljana, Kaunas, Ural, and Orleans biennials. She curated the first Kuwaiti Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2013), the collection and interventions of the Museum of Manufactured Response to Absence (2012-2014), and co-curated the Singapore Biennale (2022). In 2012, Ala Younis co-founded the independent publishing initiative Kayfa ta. She is co-section head of Berlinale’s Forum Expanded, artistic director of the Akademie der Künste der Welt, Cologne, and research scholar at al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art at New York University Abu Dhabi.
Fatma Çolakoğlu has curated exhibitions and film and video programs for the last fifteen years. In 2005, she established the Film Department of the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art. Between 2008-2018, she was responsible for the film and video programs at the Pera Museum, Istanbul, where she also headed the communications department. Following her associate director role at Salt, she was appointed Director of Research and Programs in 2022. In recent years, she has been part of the International Short Film Jury of Berlinale Shorts (2020) and Istanbul Experimental. She has also participated in Proyector 13/Festival de Videoarte, Madrid, and VIDEONALE, Bonn. She is interested in the critical relationship between the moving image and social studies. She holds an MA in Theatre Directing from Goldsmiths, University of London, and a BA in Film and Media Art from Emerson College.
Juan Pujol Rodríguez is currently the assistant director of the BBVA Foundation, where he has been the head of communication for socioeconomics and culture since 2019. He joined the BBVA Foundation in 2016 as deputy director of the Department of Communication and Institutional Relations. He holds a degree in journalism and a master’s degree in design, and has extensive experience in the media, where he has worked as a writer and editor.
This year’s selection committee comprised Vasıf Kortun (Curator), Elvira Dyangani Ose (Director, Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona), Manuel Segade (Director, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía), Ala Younis (Artistic Director, Akademie der Künste der Welt), Fatma Çolakoğlu (Director, Salt Research and Programs), and Juan Pujol Rodríguez (Assistant Director, BBVA Foundation).
After evaluating 193 applications, the committee selected Aslı Uludağ’s project Geothermalisms for the Artistic Research Grant. The committee awarded two projects for the Production Grant: Ali Taptık’s Looking at Osmanbey: Social and Spatial Entanglements of Fashion Trade and Merve Mepa’s An Interwoven Network: Threads and Trace. Regarding the selections, the committee has stated: “The Research Grant has been unanimously awarded to Aslı Uludağ for her project on the material politics of geothermal energy development in the Aegean Region of Türkiye. The proposal stood out for its exceptional depth, commitment to the research topic, and scholarly elaborateness of its approach. Both finalists for the Production Grant, Ali Taptık on fashion trade in Osmanbey and Merve Mepa on the interactions and intersections between humans, craft, and technology, presented compelling proposals with substantial artistic merit. The jurors opted to support both projects, considering their exceptional nature. We acknowledge that their projects represent different artistic approaches, and we believe funding both will contribute to a more diverse artistic landscape.”
Aslı Uludağ will receive 20,000 Euros for the Artistic Research Grant; Ali Taptık and Merve Mepa will receive 10,000 Euros each for the Production Grant in funding support for their projects. The artists will present their work at Salt (Türkiye) and the BBVA Foundation (Spain) in 2025.
About the Artists
Aslı Uludağ received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and her MA in Research Architecture from Goldsmiths, University of London. Through her research-based practice, she explores the legal, architectural, and techno-scientific structures that organize the relationship between humans and the environment and investigates the violence enacted through these processes. She proposes alternative modes of engaging with the environment through performative and interactive installations, workshops, and speculative narratives. The exhibitions she took part in include What Water Knows, Pilot Gallery, Istanbul (2022); 5th Istanbul Design Biennial (2020); A Handful of Rights, Pera Museum, Istanbul (2018); and Dissecting Signifiers, Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago (2016). She is among the recipients of the Prince Claus Mentorship Award (2022) and co-founder of Practices of Attunement.
Ali Taptık is an artist and publisher focusing on the representation of urban landscape and architecture, the relationship between the individual and the city, psychogeography, and the interaction of literature and visuality. In addition to working with institutions to document and research the ever-changing landscape of Istanbul, Taptık has published several books, including Kaza ve Kader (Filigranes Editions, 2009), Depicting Istanbul (Akin Nalca, 2010), There are no failed experiments (Atelier de Visu, 2012), and Nothing Surprising (Marraine Ginette, 2015). Her works have been exhibited in various institutions, including the Pera Museum, Salt (Istanbul), MAXXI (Rome), Ashkal Alwan (Beirut), and the Venice Biennale for Architecture. Taptık was one of the founders of the Bandrolsüz collective for distributing independent artists’ books and the Initiative for the Preservation of Historic Yedikule Gardens. Taptık works as the editor-in-chief of Onagöre︎︎︎, a publishing, research, and design studio, and as a curatorial advisor for 212 Photography Istanbul.
Merve Mepa explores the interactions between material forms and social discourse in handicraft production practices, drawing, printmaking, internet networks, video, and experimental electronics. She focuses on the historical evolution of tradition, labor, cultural sciences, and the modes and methods of production of technologies. After completing her undergraduate studies in mathematics and painting, she continues her PhD studies at the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Department of Painting.
The BBVA Foundation, as the corporate social responsibility of the BBVA Group, is committed to advancing society by promoting and disseminating knowledge through research-based, artistic, cultural, and scientific projects.
In collaboration
About the Selection Committee
Vasıf Kortun is a curator, writer, and educator in visual art, its institutions, and spatial practices. He was the founding director of Salt Research and Programs (2011-2017), the founder of Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center in Istanbul (2001-2010), and the first director of the Museum of the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College in New York (1994-1997). Kortun has co-curated the Taipei Biennial (2008) and the 9th International Istanbul Biennial (2005). He was one of the co-curators of the 24th São Paulo Biennial (1998) and the director and chief curator of the 3rd International Istanbul Biennial (1992). Kortun also curated the UAE Pavilion for the Venice Biennale (2011) and the Turkish Pavilion for the São Paulo Biennial (1994 and 1998) and the Venice Biennale (2007). He is a recipient of the Award for Curatorial Excellence from CCS, Bard College. Recent publications he edited include İpek Duben: The Skin, Body, and I (Salt & Mousse Publications, 2024), Serseri Mayın: Gürel Yontan [Loose Cannon: Gürel Yontan] (Salt, 2023), and Sentez ve Montaj: Özer Kabaş Yazıları [Montage or Synthesis: Texts of Özer Kabaş] (Salt, 2022). Kortun has taught as a guest professor in many institutions, including Istanbul Bilgi University (2009-2012); NABA, Milan (2008-2011, 2014); Sommerakademie, Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern (2009); Mimar Sinan University and Istanbul Kültür University (2004-2005); HISK, Netherlands Institute of Fine Arts (1999, 2003-2005); Konstfack, Stockholm (2001-2002, 2004); and Helsinki Academy of Fine Arts (2000-2003, 2005).
Elvira Dyangani Ose is the director of the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA). She has been the director and chief curator of The Showroom, London; a lecturer in Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London; and a member of the Thought Council at Fondazione Prada, Milan. She was previously the curator of the Göteborg International Biennial of Contemporary Art; curator of international art at Tate Modern, London; artistic director of the Rencontres Picha–Lubumbashi Biennial; curator of contemporary art at the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo (CAAC), Seville; senior curator at Creative Time, New York; and curator of contemporary art at the Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno (CAAM) in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria.
Manuel Segade is the director of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid. He trained as an art historian and led the CA2M Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo in the Madrid municipality of Móstoles for ten years, where he was awarded the CIMAM Outstanding Museum Practice Award in 2021. Segade has taught in postgraduate curatorial programs and is the author and editor of numerous books, including Elements of Vogue, Kiss My Genders, and Endgame: Duchamp, Chess and the Avant-Gardes. He is a founding member of the European Art Assembly and the European Forum for Advanced Practices. Segade curated the Spanish Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale in 2017.
Ala Younis is an artist working on curatorial, film, and publishing projects. She presented her work in solo shows in Amman, Dubai, Sharjah, New York, London, Seville, and Prague. She also participated in group exhibitions, including the Venice, Istanbul, Gwangju, Ljubljana, Kaunas, Ural, and Orleans biennials. She curated the first Kuwaiti Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2013), the collection and interventions of the Museum of Manufactured Response to Absence (2012-2014), and co-curated the Singapore Biennale (2022). In 2012, Ala Younis co-founded the independent publishing initiative Kayfa ta. She is co-section head of Berlinale’s Forum Expanded, artistic director of the Akademie der Künste der Welt, Cologne, and research scholar at al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art at New York University Abu Dhabi.
Fatma Çolakoğlu has curated exhibitions and film and video programs for the last fifteen years. In 2005, she established the Film Department of the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art. Between 2008-2018, she was responsible for the film and video programs at the Pera Museum, Istanbul, where she also headed the communications department. Following her associate director role at Salt, she was appointed Director of Research and Programs in 2022. In recent years, she has been part of the International Short Film Jury of Berlinale Shorts (2020) and Istanbul Experimental. She has also participated in Proyector 13/Festival de Videoarte, Madrid, and VIDEONALE, Bonn. She is interested in the critical relationship between the moving image and social studies. She holds an MA in Theatre Directing from Goldsmiths, University of London, and a BA in Film and Media Art from Emerson College.
Juan Pujol Rodríguez is currently the assistant director of the BBVA Foundation, where he has been the head of communication for socioeconomics and culture since 2019. He joined the BBVA Foundation in 2016 as deputy director of the Department of Communication and Institutional Relations. He holds a degree in journalism and a master’s degree in design, and has extensive experience in the media, where he has worked as a writer and editor.
