Landscapes of the Mind – Ali Kazma

'Landscapes of the Mind' at the Istanbul Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art shows works by Ali Kazma that were created in different places, but all focus on the theme of “writing”. His video work 'Sumi' (2025), which will be premiered at Istanbul Modern, documents 400 years of traditional ink production in Nara, Japan.

Several works will also be shown for the first time in Turkey in the exhibition: 'A House of Ink' (2022) and 'Sentimental' (2022), which deal with the personal archive and domestic space of the writer Orhan Pamuk.

A new work, 'Alberto in Lisbon' (2024), shows the relocation of the library of Argentinian writer and book historian Alberto Manguel from France to Portugal.

'Landscapes of the Mind' also features Ali Kazma's video works 'Calligraphy' (2013) and 'Tattoo' (2013), which were previously shown at the 55th Venice Biennale in Turkey's pavilion. The exhibition also includes a selection of photographs documenting spaces with restricted access: Libraries, print shops, paper stores, binderies, restoration workshops and bookstores, forming an inventory of literary productions past and present.

The exhibition is curated by Öykü Özsoy Sağnak and Demet Yıldız Dinçer, with Yazın Öztürk as assistant curator.