ALi CABBAR
About
Ali Cabbar's art and books engage with political history and collective memory through a symbolic visual language that invites viewers to look beyond the apparent. In his early works, he used his own body as a medium, shaped by personal experiences of imprisonment, displacement, and exile. His more recent practice has shifted toward long-term, research-based projects that address socio-political events, combining digital and traditional techniques across a range of media.
Born in Istanbul, Cabbar graduated from Marmara University’s Faculty of Fine Arts. Following the 1980 coup d’état, he was imprisoned as a political prisoner before relocating to Melbourne and later settling in Brussels, where he currently lives and works.
In recent years, he has published two photo-novella style books. Yaşamak Güzel Şey (2025), exploring the life and political struggle of the poet Nazım Hikmet, and Aşk Olsun Çocuk (2023; 2nd edition 2024), focusing on '68 student leader Deniz Gezmiş.
Solo Exhibitions
I SHOT THE LAST RHINO
Urban Space Installation
Yankose Project, Istanbul, Turkey
July 2020 - Jan. 2021
MONSTER {ge.net.i.cal.ly.mod.i.fied}
adas.ist, Istanbul, Turkey
Sept. 8 - Nov. 10, 2019
ELDORADO: A Wor{l}d Game
Fine Arts Museum (Galerija umjetnina) Split, Croatia
April 10 - May 29, 2019
Curated by Başak Şenova and Branko Franceschi
UGLY
DEPO, Istanbul, Turkey
Oct. 22 - Nov 27, 2016
PLACEBO EFFECT
Operation Room Gallery, Istanbul
April 25 - May 10, 2016
O PIPPA WHERE ART THOU?
Yapi Kredi CC, Istanbul
March 25 - April 14, 2013
RED PASSAGE
Yapi Kredi CC, Istanbul
March 10 - April 15, 2012
Curated by Başak Şenova
DISQUIET SHADOW
Yapi Kredi Kazim Taskent Art Gallery, Istanbul
April 7 - May 2, 2010
Curated by Başak Şenova
STRAWBERRY FIELDS [ge.net.i.cal.ly mod.i.fied]
Outdoor installation
Montagne de la cour/Hofberg, Brussels, Belgium
March 1 - 31, 2007
ESCAPE
Le Botanique, Brussels, Belgium
Nov. 23 - Dec. 24, 2006
EXILIC EXISTENCE
AKM Gallery, Istanbul
(Positioned in the 9th International Istanbul Biennial)
Sept. 23 - Oct. 7, 2005
A MAN, A WOMAN, A CITY
Piccolo Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
Sept. 1989 (in the program of Spoleto Art Festival)
IF I WERE A FISH
Taksim Sanat Galerisi, Istanbul
Nov. 1987
Group Exhibitions
ART HISTORY IS A SINGLE FAKE
Kunsthaus Dahlem, Berlin, Jan.-April 2023
Curated by Başak Şenova
MEMENTO MORİ
Maçka Art Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
March-April, 2022
TICKER TAPE
Art project
BOTANICC Antwerp & NICC vitrine Brussels
February 21 - March 22, 2021
SHORES - Artist Books
Open Club Gallery
Moscow, Russia
Aug. 29 - Sept. 9, 2019
Curators: Mikhail Pogarsky, Ipek Duben
CLIMBING THROUGH THE TIDE
B7L9 (Kamel Lazaar Foundation), Tunis, Tunisia
March 15 - June 6, 2019
Curated by Başak Şenova
FIRST ROUND / 2018
(Çarmıklı Collection)
Galata Greek School, Istanbul
March 6 - May 12, 2018
HELIX / 2017 (Yapı Kredi Collection)
Yapi Kredi Cultural Center, Istanbul
Sept. 13, 2017 - Jan. 20, 2018
Curated by Necmi Sonmez
IN SHADOW
CAM Gallery, Istanbul
Sept. 9 - Oct. 21 2017
ANIMACALL
Contemporary Art Center of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
March 30 - June 5, 2011
Curated by Syrago Tsiara
MEMENTO MORI
The F.U.E.L. Collection, Philadelphia, U.S.A.
April 1 - 21, 2008
Curated by Katerina Lydon-Warner
OPEN ARTIST STUDIOS
Beral Madra Suma Contemporary, Istanbul
Nov. 26 - Jan. 12, 2007
13th International Festival of Computer Arts
Maribor, Slovenia
May 10 - 13, 2007
Curated by Dunja Kukovec
EGO BUSTERS
CAM Gallery, Istanbul
Nov. 2 - Dec. 5, 2006
MANIFESTATION
Atticsalt Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland
Nov. 3 - Dec. 5, 2006
REJECTION EPISODES
Vooruit, Gent, Belgium
Dec. 7 - 25, 2006
Curated by Basak Senova
FACES AND SIGNS
5th International Triennial of Graphic Art, Bitola, Rep. of Macedonia,
Nov. 2006
4eme Biennale International de Gravure
Musee D'Art Modern et D'Art Contemporain, Liege, Belgium
March 14 - May11, 2003
4th Biennal - International Miniature Print Competition
Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Connecticut, USA
April 2003
4th International Triennial of Graphic Art
Bitola, Republic of Macedonia
Nov. 2003
Axion Art
Dexia Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
June 2002
1994
Long Gallery, Wollongong, Australia, August
St Kilda Festival Exhibition
Linden Gallery, Melbourne, Australia,
Feb. 1991
1990
Footscray Community Art Center, Melbourne, Australia
Sept. 1990