Erkan Özgen

Erkan Özgen was born in Derik in Mardin province, Turkey in 1971 and graduated from the Department of Art Education, Cukurova University in 2000. His artistic adventure began in 1998 with a contemporary art exhibition “Young Activities“. Since that time he has participated in numerous group exhibitions in many countries including Albania, Croatia, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Israel, Lebanon, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Turkey, Austria, UK, USA, Austria, Cyprus, Estonia, Slovenia and Montenegro.

In 2005, Özgen participated in a residency programme in the International Artists Studio Program Malmö, Sweden. In the same year he received the “Prix Meuly” from the Kunstmuseum Thun, Switzerland. In 2008, he took part in the Can Xalant artist exchange programme at the Center for Creating and Contemporary Thought in Mataró, Barcelona. He has also organized workshops in Beirut, Damascus, Diyarbakir and Enshede. During the same period Özgen has given interviews about art in Turkey and various other countries.
Erkan’s residency is realised in context of AR-Safe Haven Helsinki programme co-organised by Perpetuum Mobile and HIAP and funded by the City of Helsinki. Curated by Perpetuum Mobile.