Exhibition:
Epipe
Güneş Terkol
Salt Galata
January 30 – March 8, 2026
Mastercard Exhibition Hall
Epipe is the culmination of an oral history and archival research project that Güneş Terkol has been working on with her mother, Elmira Terkol, since 2002. The artist weaves together earlier and newly produced works with materials distilled from this research, which traces the multi-stage migration of the Kazan Tatars beginning in the late 19th century, from Russia to China and eventually to Türkiye. Combining drawing, animation, and stitching, she develops a layered audio-visual narrative around migration routes, family recollections, and exchanges across geographies and generations.
During the preparations for the exhibition over the past year, a series of research trips took place, including visits to the Forum of Tatar Women in Kazan and the Sabantuy Festival* in Eskişehir. These encounters involved listening to numerous migration stories, conducting video interviews, and bringing family heirlooms and photo albums out of chests. The final stage of this research was a sewing workshop held at the Kazan Culture and Solidarity Association in Ankara, with the participation of Tatar women who had migrated from China. As in other workshops led by the artist with women across different countries, this process offered space for personal stories to take shape within a collective narrative. Participants’ reflections on migration, belonging, and family memory were woven into fabrics and transformed into a banner, accompanied by traditional Tatar songs.
Epipe takes its name from a well-known Tatar folk song** that depicts a dancing female figure, evoking both the memory and vitality of a community that has witnessed several historical shifts, from wars and occupations to economic crises and regime changes. Modes of production, forms of coexistence, and embodied practices preserved through forced displacements coalesce into a repertoire of intergenerational experience, labor, and resilience.
The exhibition is presented as part of the Salt Artistic Research and Production Grant Program, organized in collaboration with the BBVA Foundation. Public programs accompanying the exhibition will be announced at saltonline.org.
*Sabantuy is a Tatar festival celebrated in the first weeks of June, after the harvest.
**Epipe is a popular folk song among the Kazan Tatars. In Tatar folk culture, it is associated with joy, vivacity, and movement, as well as a shared sense of rhythm within the community.
***
Program: Amira Akbıyıkoğlu
Program Coordinator: Alâ Taleb
Exhibition Design and Production: Emirhan Altuner, Fulya Aras
Editor: Ezgi Yurteri
Animations: Aynur Fomin, Mert Öztekin
English Translation: Sinan Güldal
Video Editing: Studio10forward
Installation: Betül Bolat, Eray Özcan, OCD Museum Works
Communication Design: Okay Karadayılar
Workshop Participants: Filiz Agi, Halenur Agis, Nerkiz Akçura, Nergiz Akış, Taliye Çuraki, Suzan Devletşah, Aynur Fomin, Sadiye Kiriş, Elmira Terkol, Deniz Tiniş
Acknowledgments: Miray Aslantürk, Albina Azanova, Gülçin Dinçler, Ozan Eras, Leysan Garafutdinova, Liana Kuyumcuyan, Erol Mansur, Tülin Mansur, Mücella Mert, Güçlü Öztekin, Fuat Tiniş, Sermet Tolan and Işık Yüceoral (Ofset Yapımevi)
And those who shared their family heirlooms: Filiz Agi Mert, Nergiz Akış, Mesut Arslanbek, Reşide Biçuri, Suzan Devletşah, Nuriye Dibirdi, Aynur Fomin, Elmira Seyrek, Elmira Terkol, Feride Wahlross, Kazan Culture and Solidarity Association
The exhibition is realized with the contributions of Türk Tuborg A.Ş. and Jotun.
Epipe is the culmination of an oral history and archival research project that Güneş Terkol has been working on with her mother, Elmira Terkol, since 2002. The artist weaves together earlier and newly produced works with materials distilled from this research, which traces the multi-stage migration of the Kazan Tatars beginning in the late 19th century, from Russia to China and eventually to Türkiye. Combining drawing, animation, and stitching, she develops a layered audio-visual narrative around migration routes, family recollections, and exchanges across geographies and generations.
During the preparations for the exhibition over the past year, a series of research trips took place, including visits to the Forum of Tatar Women in Kazan and the Sabantuy Festival* in Eskişehir. These encounters involved listening to numerous migration stories, conducting video interviews, and bringing family heirlooms and photo albums out of chests. The final stage of this research was a sewing workshop held at the Kazan Culture and Solidarity Association in Ankara, with the participation of Tatar women who had migrated from China. As in other workshops led by the artist with women across different countries, this process offered space for personal stories to take shape within a collective narrative. Participants’ reflections on migration, belonging, and family memory were woven into fabrics and transformed into a banner, accompanied by traditional Tatar songs.
Epipe takes its name from a well-known Tatar folk song** that depicts a dancing female figure, evoking both the memory and vitality of a community that has witnessed several historical shifts, from wars and occupations to economic crises and regime changes. Modes of production, forms of coexistence, and embodied practices preserved through forced displacements coalesce into a repertoire of intergenerational experience, labor, and resilience.
The exhibition is presented as part of the Salt Artistic Research and Production Grant Program, organized in collaboration with the BBVA Foundation. Public programs accompanying the exhibition will be announced at saltonline.org.
*Sabantuy is a Tatar festival celebrated in the first weeks of June, after the harvest.
**Epipe is a popular folk song among the Kazan Tatars. In Tatar folk culture, it is associated with joy, vivacity, and movement, as well as a shared sense of rhythm within the community.
Program: Amira Akbıyıkoğlu
Program Coordinator: Alâ Taleb
Exhibition Design and Production: Emirhan Altuner, Fulya Aras
Editor: Ezgi Yurteri
Animations: Aynur Fomin, Mert Öztekin
English Translation: Sinan Güldal
Video Editing: Studio10forward
Installation: Betül Bolat, Eray Özcan, OCD Museum Works
Communication Design: Okay Karadayılar
Workshop Participants: Filiz Agi, Halenur Agis, Nerkiz Akçura, Nergiz Akış, Taliye Çuraki, Suzan Devletşah, Aynur Fomin, Sadiye Kiriş, Elmira Terkol, Deniz Tiniş
Acknowledgments: Miray Aslantürk, Albina Azanova, Gülçin Dinçler, Ozan Eras, Leysan Garafutdinova, Liana Kuyumcuyan, Erol Mansur, Tülin Mansur, Mücella Mert, Güçlü Öztekin, Fuat Tiniş, Sermet Tolan and Işık Yüceoral (Ofset Yapımevi)
And those who shared their family heirlooms: Filiz Agi Mert, Nergiz Akış, Mesut Arslanbek, Reşide Biçuri, Suzan Devletşah, Nuriye Dibirdi, Aynur Fomin, Elmira Seyrek, Elmira Terkol, Feride Wahlross, Kazan Culture and Solidarity Association
The exhibition is realized with the contributions of Türk Tuborg A.Ş. and Jotun.
