Kurdish Artist's Prison Works On Display in Turkey for First Time

The Istanbul exhibition was the first solo show of Zehra Dogan’s work giving people in Turkey a chance to see her art, which has already drawn international acclaim.

Dogan’s picture of the destruction wrought on a town by the Turkish security forces in its battle against a Kurdish insurgency was deemed as terrorist propaganda resulting in a two years ten months prison sentence of which she served 600 days.

Dogan used her dress for one work; she says improvising helped to convey her feminist message. Many of her works were smuggled out of prison, some reportedly in the prison laundry.

Dogan says her work is driven by the twin themes of Kurdish resistance and feminism. (Photo: Dorian Jones / VOA)

Dogan produced works of art in prisons, often using her menstrual blood and hair. This, despite art being forbidden in jail. She says only thirty works were seized by authorities and destroyed.

Prison life for women is a common theme of Dogan’s work behind bars; being in jail, she had little access to paper, improvising with bedsheets. (Photo: Dorian Jones / VOA)

Electricity and shopping bills offered Dogan rare opportunities to use paper in her art while serving nearly two years in prison. (Photo: Dorian Jones /VOA)

The struggle of Kurdish women is a strong theme in Dogan’s work. (Photo: Dorian Jones/VOA)