Mustafa Boga is a Turkish artist working across textiles, video, photography, and performance. His practice explores memory, ritual, and the ways personal and collective histories shape identity.
Working between Adana and London, his work investigates how personal and collective histories are woven into images, gestures, and materials. Often drawing from his own family archives and cultural traditions, he transforms these fragments into poetic artworks that reimagine belonging, identity, and heritage.
Rooted in storytelling, Mustafa frequently employs manipulated photographs, home videos, floral wreaths, and quilt-making techniques. By combining hand and machine embroidery with analogue and digital image-making, he creates intensely tactile works that collapse the boundaries between the personal and political. These pieces often reference rituals such as weddings or funerals, using them as metaphors for memory, community, and the passage of time. His use of fabric and thread, once considered domestic or decorative, becomes a powerful act of cultural preservation and resistance.
Mustafa’s background in film and journalism informs his artistic approach, sharpening his interest in documentation and narrative. His installations and videos question how lives are represented and remembered, asking what stories endure and what is forgotten. Across his practice, he honours ordinary lives and hidden voices, drawing attention to how they shape larger cultural and social histories.
Since completing his MA in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins (2014–2016), Mustafa has exhibited widely across Europe, the Middle East, and the UK. His work has been shown at venues such as the Nan Ke Gallery (London), Contemporary Istanbul, the Turkish Textile Biennial, and Nottingham Contemporary. Solo exhibitions include For the Lives We Couldn’t Hold On To (2025, Nan Ke Gallery), Displaced Memories (2024, Antalya, Turkey), and Wild Flowers (2022, London). His works are held in significant collections, including the Odunpazarı Modern Museum (OMM) in Eskişehir and the Arter Collection in Istanbul.
Mustafa has received notable recognition, including The Red Mansion Art Prize (2016) and a fellowship at RAW Material Company (2018). He has collaborated with artists such as Otobong Nkanga and Irena Haiduk, and has performed at Documenta14. In 2018, he was highly commended at the Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize. His practice continues to evolve through residencies and international exhibitions, affirming his role as a vital voice in contemporary art.
2025
2024
2022
2017 - 2022
2022
2021
2021
2020
2019
2017
Highlights
Awards
2021 Winner of project fund open call, Bilsart, İstanbul, Turkey
2018 Awarded for The Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize as ‘Highly Commended Artist’, London, UK
2017 Shortlisted for AiR Competition Studio Award, The Muse at 269 – Gallery / Studio, London, UK
2016 Winner of Red Mansion Art Prize, UK/China
Solo Exhibitions
2025 For the Lives We Couldn’t Hold On To, Nan Ke Gallery, Shanghai, China
2024 Displaced Memories, Gulden Bostancı Gallery, Antalya, Turkey
2023 Looking for the warm spot in a swimming pool, Kun Art Space, Adana, Turkey
2022 All the things I don’t want to hear from a politician, Martch Art Project, Istanbul, Turkey
2022 Wild Flowers, Seven9three Gallery, London, UK
2021 Because ours could be the beginning of a beautiful fairy tale dreamed of for years, Bilsart, İstanbul, Turkey
2021 The Foundation Ceremony/Temel Atma Töreni, are Projects, Antalya, Turkey
2020 There He Is Without A Proper Diagnosis, LOA Gallery, London, UK
2019 The Landscape of Perpetual Flags, Casa dell’Arte, Lisbon, Portugal
2018 Army Time Memoir, Curated by Roshanak Khakban, The Emerging Artists Gallery, London, UK
2017 There He Is Without A Proper Diagnosis, Peckham Pelican, London, UK
Group Exhibitions
2025 CI Bloom, Martch Art Project, Istanbul, Turkey
2025 Oriented Body, Martch Art Project, Istanbul, Turkey
2025 Yedi Onyedi, Martch Art Project, Akaretler, Istanbul, Turkey
2025 Blossom Time, Swatch Art Peace Hotel, Shanghai, China
2025 The Skin of the Earth, organised by Kun Art Space, Çırçır Factory, Adana, Turkey
2024 Wirksworth Art Festival, Derby, England
2024 Music to my eyes, with Martch Art Project, Mesa Bodrum Demirbükü, Turkey
2024 NAE Open, New Art Exchange, Nottingham, UK
2024 Art Paris with Martch Art Project, Paris, France
2024 Old Walls, New Art, UKNA, Derby, UK
2024 Collectors – Artists, Ferda Art Platform, İstanbul, Turkey
2024 Artweeks Akaretler with Kun Art Space, İstanbul, Turkey
2024 Art Show: Galleries United with Martch Art Project, Istanbul, Turkey
2023 Paris Photo Art Fair, Paris, France
2023 Far/Near, Museum of Painting and Sculpture in Izmir, Turkey
2023 Pretty Doom with qap.digital at Ugly Duck, London, UK
2023 Contemporary Istanbul with Martch Art Project, Istanbul, Turkey
2023 From another world, Gazhane Museum, İstanbul, Turkey
2023 Slow down, Touch and Feel, Turkish Textile Biennial, İzmir, Turkey
2023 It doesn’t matter until it does, Martch Art Project, Istanbul, Turkey
2023 Lucid Dreams, Art Exchange, Essex, UK
2023 I wish I was there, Gri Space, Ayvalık, Turkey
2022 Launch Event, QAP digital, Reference Point 180, London, UK
2022 Just One Bite, Giswil Performance Festival, Giswil, Switzerland
2022 Contemporary Textile Art Biennial, Guimaraes, Portugal
2022 Wells Contemporary, Wells, UK
2022 Contemporary Istanbul with Martch Art Project, Istanbul, Turkey
2022 Otherness for Senkron Exhibition at Martch Art Project, İstanbul, Turkey
2022 Artweeks Akaretler with Bilsart and Martch Art Project, İstanbul, Turkey
2022 Leicester City Take Over, Attenborough Art Centre, Leicester, UK
2021 Don’t Look Back, Deep is the Past, Odunpazarı Modern Museum, Eskişehir, Turkey
2021 Contemporary Istanbul with Martch Art Project, Istanbul, Turkey
2021 London Art Biennale, Chelsea Old Town Hall, London, UK
2021 Pek Yakında/Coming Soon for Senkron Exhibition at are Projects, Antalya, Turkey
2021 Screening of Blowing your Cover or something like that, Performance Art Bergen, Norway
2021 Screening of Blowing your Cover or something like that, Terrarista TV, Frankfurt, Germany
2020 Mythological Migrations: Imagining Queer Muslim Utopias Curated by Abdullah Qureshi, Helsinki, Finland
2020 Breathing Out of School curated by RAW Academie, Bétonsalon, Paris, France
2020 Life, Interrupted Curated by Tugba Tirpan, SEAS Gallery, Brighton, UK
2020 Turkish Delight Symposium, Performative Talk Curated by Queer Art Projects, London, UK
2020 Isolation Mastered, JD Malat Gallery, London, UK
2020 State of Existence Curated by Tugba Tirpan, SEAS Gallery, Brighton, UK
2020 Wild Wild Æst, Organised by Æther, The Hague, Netherlands
2020 Opencreek Show night, Museum Angewandte Kunst. Frankfurt, Germany
2019 Performance, Testimony, Performance Reihi Neu-Oerliken, Zurich, Switzerland
2019 State of Existence Curated by Tugba Tirpan, Well Space Community, London, UK
2019 A Field to Getting Lost, Anesis Cinema, Aegina, Greece.
2019 Bodies in Alliance / Bodies in Defiance, Monitor/Rotor2, Göteborg, Sweden
2019 Performance, Testimony, Space (BYOP), London, UK
2019 ThirdBase Art Residency end show, Lisbon, Portugal
2019 Silkworms (Photo Performance) ArtAnkara Art Fair, Ankara, Turkey
2018 Germination, Part Courts, Raw Material Company, Dakar, Senegal
2018 OF POSSIBLE CONFIGURATIONS, Curated by Roshanak Khakban, A-side B-side Gallery, London, UK
2018 Performance, Curated by Mirek Macke & Elizabeth Coleman-Link, Kunstverein Familie Montez, Frankfurt, Germany
2018 Missing Element, Hosted by Agora Art Circle, as part of Wandsworth Arts Fringe, Art Lacuna, London, UK
2018 Every Me / Her Bir Ben, Martch Art Project, Istanbul Turkey
2018 Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize Shortlist Exhibition, The Emerging Artists Gallery, London, UK
2018 Screening: Soul of Things, Gallery Oryza, Obihiro, Hakkaido, Japan
2018 Performance, SUPERMARKET Art Fair, Stockholm, Sweden
2018 Sonorous Symmetry, Samt Volume2, Online Exhibition
2018 Sawt (2a): Qala 0.8900 @Satellite Art Space, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, UAE
2018 River In An Ocean, Lahore Biennale, Lahore, Pakistan
2018 Performance, ArtAnkara Art Fair, Ankara, Turkey
2018 Screening: Transcending species, Transcending gender, Transcending nations, Deptford Cinema, London, UK
2017 To Play, Curated by Pathfinders, Hosted by Sagacity, Brussels, Belgium
2017 Every Me / Her Bir Ben, London, UK
2017 The Intimacy of Banality, KEX Studios, Reykjavík, Iceland
2017 AiR Competition – Summer Group Show, The Muse at 269 – Gallery / Studio, London, UK
2017 Process Space Art Festival, Russe, Bulgaria
2017 Platform Projects, Independent Art Fair, Athens, Greece
2017 Antennae, Lubomirow/Angus–Hughes Gallery, London, UK
2017 Affordable Art Fair Hampstead, Made In Arts, London, UK
2017 Red Mansion Foundation Art Prize Exhibition, Kendrew Barn, Oxford, UK
2016 Hiding In Plain Sight, Mori&Stein Gallery, London, UK
2016 Act of Searching Closely, ASC Gallery, London, UK
2016 No Way Out, Red Gate Studios, Beijing, China
2016 SHE, Exploring The Construct of Femininity, Ugly Duck, Tanner Street, London, UK
2016 #32 Annual Open, CGP Gallery, London, UK
2016 SELF/CONTROL, Co-Thinking About Future, Punctum Gallery, London, UK
2016 DO, UNDO, REDO, Degree Show-Central Saint Martins, The Crossing, London, UK
2016 Part of Us, Auction and Exhibition, Central Saint Martins, London, UK
2016 Metaphonica 2, The Street, London, UK
Residencies
2025 Swatch Art Peace Hotel Residency, Shanghai, China
2023 Wirksworth Residency, Derby, England
2023 Air Kvitbrakka, Berlevag, Norway
2022 AIR Sandnes, Norway
2022 Martch Arts Studio Residency, Ayvalık, Turkey
2021 Viborg Kunsthal Riddergade, Viborg, Denmark
2019 ThirdBase Art Residency, Lisbon, Portugal
2018 Montez Performance Residency, Kunstverein Familie Montez, Frankfurt, Germany
2018 Sagacity Residency, Brussels, Belgium (Collaboration with Kolbrún Inga Söring)
2018 HighHouse Residency, Norfolk, UK (Collaboration with Kolbrún Inga Söring)
2017 Artist In Residence, Process Space Art Festival, Russe, Bulgaria
2017 Studio Residency, Micro Nation: The Forth Culture Residency, SIOUSIOU Studios, Berlin, Germany