Derya Akay (born in 1988, Istanbul, Turkey; lives in Vancouver, Canada) is an artist living on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. Selected recent exhibitions include Meydan, Polygon Gallery, North Vancouver (2021); Contact Traces, the CCA Wattis Institute, San Francisco (2021); The Neighbour’s Plate, Unit 17, Vancouver (2020); The Lulennial II: A Low-Hanging Fruit, Lulu, Mexico City (2018); HERE, the Aga Khan Museum, Toronto (2017); with bread, Campbell River Art Gallery, Campbell River (2017); and Pumice, Del Vaz Projects, Los Angeles (2017).
Works
Derya Akay at Small Arms Inspection Building
Location: Small Arms Inspection Building
Queer Dowry, as a commission for the Toronto Biennial in 2022, marks a significant shift in Derya Akay’s practice. While continuing to centre exchange and collaboration, this marks a deeply personal exploration of their ancestry, geographic roots, and personal relationship to their family histories, queer histories therein, and heirlooms, especially…
Programs
Queer Dowry: Sıkma Günü
Location: Small Arms Inspection Building
Join us at the Small Arms Inspection Building in Mississauga for a generative, safe gathering in connection with artist Derya Akay’s installation Queer Dowry. Through their cooking and care, Derya invites participants to come together after years apart, to share space for conversation, nourishment, and exchange. Queer Dowry is a…