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Hi there! This is a nice opportunity to write about yourself, so would love to talk about who I am and what I do. Welcome to my personal archieve & portfolio!

Was born in 2001, Istanbul

Yup, this is me.

I was a nice kid, I guess.

These paintings were made by my father Ahmet Ozel, who is an artist.

My father's environment caused me to observe the "art world" since I was very young. I have witnessed that the art world is full of contradictions, problems, and unfairness behind all the reputations. Which made me very curious to explore this field and work on change.

I also appreciate this environment as it made me someone with a big intellectual curiosity. Meeting with different artists, art historians, art workers raised my interest in art history, history, politics etc.
I was encouraged to criticize and intreprete different artworks that I have seen, which was my first step into the curating scene.

I lived my all life in Istanbul, before moving to Rotterdam. Istanbul is a very special place for me, and I think its culture shaped me. Exploring the city's change, history, dynamism, multiculturalism, and later the underground/queer scene contributed to me a lot.

It is not the most livable city in the world, but I think it was amazing to live somewhere that has been the cultural capital of both the "West" and the "East".

I like to talk about the past, because I think it is what defines us. So, here is a dig into my journey...

Oh, in high school I developed a big interest in photography. Usually digital, but also was using Lubitel.
Here is a selection from my high school works:

Also, I regularly started to go hiking, trekking, camping trips in across Turkey. I am still very interested in nature sports, but can't really go to mountains in this country, always looking for a camping partner!

(I was about to die in this trip)

Also, I have shot a very ameteur short film in the 11th grade. If you are interested, you can watch it here:

In the same year, I went to Japan with my father to help him with his group exhibition. While meeting with artists coming from all around the world, I have realized how I do not want to leave this environment. This was the time I decided to study something related to arts, instead of political science.

In the summer of 2019, I wanted to go on a trip alone to discover more about myself. So, I took an interrail (and some hitchhiking) alone for 45 days, with almost no money. I stayed at very weird places and had my craziest memories. It took 45 days in total, and it was lifechanging for me.

After the interrail, I have finally decided to study in the Netherlands, primarly due to the country's sucess in innovation.

During the lockdown, I found an Instagram initiative called "Ammonite Gallery" with a friend of mine. Our goal was to support young artists based in Turkey.
After a few months, we opened our new exhibition by collaborating with the Fridays for Future and Istanbul Women Museum.

After, I also started to work with young artists in the Netherlands and curated a digital exhibition. However, working, having a volunteer internship, studying, and managing the gallery was too much for me and I eventually decided to take a break.

In three years, fortunately, I found many opportunities to hop up my interest in arts. Now I work as a sort of assistant at a private compartment (Lakeside Collection) in Boijmans Depot. Last summer I have made an internship at the Guggenheim Venice. They were all amazing opportunities to see different perspectives in the art world.

Also, still working on projects to support the underground scene artists and young artists. I like to witness how different artists from different backgrounds are expressing themselves. Sometimes people working in the underground arts scene can be judgemental of the mainstream art scene, and vice-versa. I understand this issue, but as someone who does not consider himself an artist, I aim to be able to understand different perspectives in arts and be able to reveal amazing collaborations between different communities.

I believe that art can change the world, but when we collaborate. In the future, I want to organize innovative art projects to narrate strong stories.