Marina Papazyan is a writer and artist from Istanbul. They mostly work with video and sound, and write fiction and essays. They have been interested in how monstrousness and disease are represented and intersect, with vampirism and lycanthropy appearing as recurring motifs in their writing. Werewolves, vampires and satyrs take on different roles in exploring queer genders and erotics, set against the contradictory legacies of (post-)Ottoman imperialisms, and the liberation struggles that resist them. Until recently, they were a program coordinator at the non-profit art space Depo (2021–⁠2025), and helped run BAS Artists’ Book Collection (2020–⁠2025). They are currently an MFA candidate in Writing at Bard College.

b. 1996, Istanbul
[they/them]
marinapapazyan [at] tutamail [dot] com
 

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2023   Trou de loup [Kurt çukuru] = Trou de loup [Wolf hole], 5533, Istanbul
2021   Hemoglobinler & Karıncalar = Haemoglobins & Ants, poşe, Istanbul
 

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2022   Su Akar Dilini Bulur = All water falls into language, Kıraathane İstanbul Edebiyat Evi, Istanbul
2022   The Hauntologists, BAK – basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht
2021   I heard it from the valleys, Haus N Athen, Athens
2021   Burası = This Place, Yapı Kredi Kültür Sanat, Istanbul
2021   İstanbul’da Şifa Bulmak = Finding a Cure in Istanbul, Karşı Sanat — Yaklaşım Tüneli, Istanbul
2019   etten, kemikten = flesh and bone, Operation Room, Istanbul
 

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

2025   “Yokluğuna işaret ediyor” [Signals its absence], Sanat Dünyamız 204
2025   “lubunşah,” Anlatı Gücü İttifakı: Sergi = Narrative Power Alliance: Exhibition, ed. Onur Karaoğlu and Alper Turan
2024   “Normalliğe ihanet etmek: Kırmızı çizgiler, büyük hapishane ve uzun aralık = Betraying normalcy: Red lines, the big prison, and the long middle,” K24
2023   “Kültür sığınağına yerleşmek” [Settling for the culture bunker], Sanat Dünyamız 192
2022   “yenilir bağırsak = edible guts,” Görmenin Kenarında = On the Edge of Seeing, by Sevil Tunaboylu
2022   “mâzîk,” mâzîk (Depo)
2022   “Beyoğlu’nun yeni failleri” [Beyoğlu’s new perpetrators], co-written with Eda Hisarlıoğlu, 1+1 Express
2021   “Eşikte Vücut Bulmak: Canavarın Queer Etiği” [Embodied at the Threshold: The Queer Ethics of Monstrosity], Kaos GL 179
2021   “minör-K = minor-K,” Gökcisimleri Üzerine = On Celestial Bodies, ed. Kevser Güler and Süreyyya Evren (Arter)
2019   “Süt Terlerken = Sweating Milk,” Abstract Lies (Chapter 1), ed. Huo Rf and Abdi Cadani
 

RESIDENCIES + OTHER PROGRAMS

09.21 – 06.22   Fellowship for Situated Practice, BAK – basis voor actuele kunst, Istanbul — Jakarta — Utrecht
10.18 – 06.19   Istanbul Biennial Production and Research Programme, İKSV – Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, Istanbul
 

LINKS

⚹︎ Marina Papazyan ile vızıltılar, nefes alışlar ve musallat olanlar üzerine | Açık Radyo
⚹︎ cogito 109: Sesli Düşünmek | Yapı Kredi Yayınları
⚹︎ Metropolis M no. 2, 2023: de horror, de horror! | Metropolis M
⚹︎ Naming the unnamed: The Hauntologists at BAK | Metropolis M
⚹︎ Su Akar Dilini Bulur / All Water Falls into Language | Açık Radyo
⚹︎ In Between Seances | BAK – basis voor actuele kunst
⚹︎ Bir gece bahçesi deneyi: mâzîk | Açık Radyo
⚹︎ Η σύγχρονη τέχνη έχει περισσότερα κοινά με τη λαογραφία απ’ ότι νομίζουμε | αθηνόραμα
⚹︎ Vampir ve hayaletler arasında: Hemoglobinler & Karıncalar | Argonotlar
⚹︎ Bedenin coğrafyası | unlimited
⚹︎ Bedenlere inanır mısınız? | 1+1 Express