Sümer Erek
London//Lefkosia
sumererek1@gmail.com
sumererek.xyz
Sümer Erek is a multidisciplinary artist born in Cyprus, who currently lives and worKs between the UK and Cyprus. After starting his studies at Mimar Sinan University in Istanbul, he moved to London, where he completed his BA and postgraduate in Sculpture at Central St. Martins, and later received his Master’s in Transnational Art, Identity and Nation (TRAIN) at University of the Arts London. Erek’s art practice is informed by his lived experience of displacement, trauma and a longing for new futures. His work includes paintings, installations, performances, and participatory practices, often conducted in public spaces.
CV
UPCOMING PROJECTS / EXHIBITIONS - 2024 - 2026
2024
Imagining Home- Between the Walls, group exhibition, Buffer Zone Nicosia, CY
Art for a Wounded Planet, group exhibition, Larnaca Municipality Gallery, Larnaca, CY
Contested Desires, residency and work-in-progress exhibition, ŠKUC, Nova Gorica, SI
Diverse-it art festival / Wedge, Rüstem Kitabevi Nicosia, CY
2025
Selected artist for British Council residency, Mardin Sanat Evi, Mardin and Diyarbakir, TR
Contested Desires, exhibition, Nubuke Foundation, Accra, GH
2026
Contested Desires, exhibition, Xarkis, Larnaca, CY
SOLO EXHIBITIONS / PROJECTS / PERFORMANCES
2024
Brittle Lemons Collective, Eklektic Manifest: Lefkoşa Bienali’ne Giriş, Nicosia, CY
Return to Sender, Eklektic Manifest: Lefkoşa Bienali’ne Giriş, Nicosia, CY
2023
Yırtık Hava, BB Projects, İstanbul TR
2022
Embodied Moments, Gallery Marquess, London UK
2020
Life, Art and Beyond, Project, AnOther Place, London, UK
2018
1973-2018, ArtRooms Gallery, Kyrenia, CY
Unlived Days, Hôte Gallery, Brussels, BE
2017
The Need to Doodle – Trilogy, Project, 5th Base Gallery, London, UK
Yeasting Canvas, Project, Installation, AnOther Place N16 7PB, Chefware, London, UK
Mediterranean Days, Solo exhibition, AnOther Place E8 2NS, Homefinder, London, UK
Anı Duruşu, Performance, AnOther Place, Mimar Sinan University, Istanbul, TR
Anı Duruşu, Intervention, AnOther Place, Street, Lefkosa, KIBRIS
2016
Broken Tide, Project, Installation, AnOther Place N1 4NG, House, London, UK
2014
Sumer Erek Studio – Opening, Exhibition, London, UK
2012
The Sound of Cicadas, Multi-disciplinary project, Five finger mountains, CY
2009
Tükenis Halleri / State of Loss, multi-disciplinary project, Sidestreet Gallery, Lefkosa, CY
2008
Across the Grain / Tree house, multi-disciplinary project, The Forty Hall, Enfield, Middlesex UK
The Newspaper House – Participatory project, 5th Liverpool Biennial & Independents, Liverpool UK
The Newspaper House – Gateway, installation, Camberwell College of Arts, London, UK
2007
Raw Earth Project, multi-disciplinary project, Lefkosia, CY
Leda’s Portrait, Intervention, performance, British Museum, London, UK; Pergamon Museum, Berlin, DE, Swedish parliament, Stockholm, SE
Self Portrait, Performance, Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts, Istanbul, TR
Ben Toprak, Performance, Venice Biennial pavilions, Venice, IT
2006
Raw Earth Project, Multi-disciplinary project, Nicosia, CY
2005
Earth Visuals, Installation, performance, Haydarpasa Art Centre, Lefkosa, CY
Flesh Line, Photography, video, Dolores de Sierra – Galleria de Arte, Madrid, ES
Opening Doors, exhibition, Cafe Gallery Projects London, UK
2004
Ash Seeds, Photography, 3rd Liverpool Biennial, Liverpool, UK
2003
Split, residency and installation project, Gozo Contemporary, Gozo, MALTA
2002
Stitch, Participatory project, installations, Queensland Multi Media Arts Centre, London UK
Upside Down House, Multi-disciplinary installation, Bluecoat Arts Centre, Liverpool UK
The Lighthouse, Scotland s Centre for Architecture Design, Glasgow UK
Mangal, Participatory performance, 291 Gallery, London Biennale, London UK
The Bath, installation, participatory performances, Liverpool Biennial, 2002, Liverpool UK
2001
Upside Down House, Multi-disciplinary installation, Stoke Newington Festival, London UK
2000
Footnotes I, Multi-disciplinary performance, ABS, London UK
Footnotes II, Multi-disciplinary Installation and performance, Stoke Newington Festival, London UK
1999
Screen, Multi-disciplinary performance, Chat Palace Theatre, London UK
SOCIALLY ENGAGED PROJECTS
2022
Under the Fig Tree, SE Studio, London, UK
2020
Süheyla’s Music Word, Shacklewell Mosque, London, UK
2019
In Between, Cultural heritage project, HCA, London, UK
2017
Doodling From the ‘Other Side’, AnOther Place, London, UK, Lefkoşa, CY, Bodrum, TR
2015
International Arts Day, Participatory project, Sumer Erek Studio, London, UK
2014
Buffer Fringe, Project, Buffer Zone, Nicosia, CYPRUS
2009
Zygote, Pax Public Connection, multi-disciplinary collaborative project, The Black – E, Liverpool, UK
2008
The Newspaper House – Work in progress, installation, Gillett Square Hackney, London, UK
2006
Ledra Crossin, Participatory performance, Buffer zone, Lefkosa, CY
2005
Raw Earth Project – A House in Cyprus – The Pool , Templos, CY
Ownership, Earth, Belief in Cyprus, Intervention, inside parliament building, Lefkosa, CY
Opening Doors, socially engaged project with Cypriot Centre and Cafe Gallery Projects London, UK
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024
Dünya Burada Bitsin, Ayzeradant Galeri, İzmir, TR
2022
Art Fiction Vol II, J/M Art Gallery, London, UK
Alchemy, The Steamship PS, London, UK
2021
TA London, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
2018
Siperisaika, Endless Art Taksim, İstanbul, TR
2017
Bodrum Biennial, Bodrum, TR
The Need to Doodle – 5th Base Gallery, London, UK
2016
Visual Dialects, Framers Gallery, London, UK
The Stories They Told, 5th Base Gallery, London, UK
Of Time And Space, 12 Star Gallery, London, UK
2015
Relational Extravaganza: Arbitrary Dreams, Lacey Contemporary Gallery, London, UK
2014
Other Indications, Group exhibition, (NiMAC), Municipal Arts Centre, Nicosia, CY
2012
Terra Mediterranea In Crisis, Group exhibition, (NiMAC), Municipal Arts Centre, Nicosia, CY
Alashia, Group exhibition, Beyoglu Sanat Galerisi, Istanbul, TR
Optica festival, Video screening, Cordoba, Madrid, ES
2009
Across the Grain, multi-disciplinary project / exhibition, Edmonton Shopping Centre, London, UK
Intecrossing Lives, multi-disciplinary project / exhibition, Edmonton Shopping Centre, London, UK
Sound Ways – Site Waves, multi-disciplinary project, Edmonton Shopping Centre, London, UK
Zygote, Pax Public Connection, multi-disciplinary, installation, The Black – E, Liverpool, UK
2008
Across the Grain, group exhibition, The Forty Hall, Enfield, Middlesex UK
Shift – reflections in time and place Installation, Schwartz Gallery, London UK
Lift Festival installation, performance, Stratford, London UK
MA TrAiN Exhibition photography, installation, The House Gallery, London UK
Free Words photography, Mayfair Library, London UK
2007
Festival in Situ Installation, La Farinera del Colt, Barcelona, ES
Cyprus fest Installation, performances, Abney Public Hall, London, UK
Cold Store Site-specific Installation, Cold store building, Berlin, DE
2006
Intervention Performance, Manifesta-6 Coffee Break, Nicosia, CY
Lost School Notes Installation, -Blue print- Museum Man 4th Liverpool Biennial, Liverpool, UK
Long Shore Drift – London Biennale 2006 Performance, Brighton Beach, Brighton, UK
10×10 Installation, Area 10, London, UK
Open Studios – (Ledra’s Portrait) Performances, Arabahmet Cultural Centre, Nicosia, CY
2005
30X30, Abney Public Hall, London, UK
Group Exhibition, Dolores de Sierra – Galleria de Arte – Madrid, ES
Insula Ovinium, W. Hogarth Museum, London, UK
Bayennale international art Festival, San Francisco, USA
London in Six Easy Step, Installation, ICA, London, UK
2004
A Drop of Dust, A Grain of Water Installation, photography, Berliner Kunstprojekt, Berlin, DE
Insula Ovinium, The Rockhouse Gallery, Cost Study Centre, Sheerness, Sheppey, UK
Group Event, Video installation, 291 Gallery, London, UK
Six Thousand Chairs, Installation, performance, Chrysal Palace Park, London, UK
Long Shore Drift – London Biennale 2004, Performance, Brighton Beach, Brighton, UK
Painting exhibition, Elele Gallery, Paris, FR
Soprimaverdada – Resuscitation, Installation, Area 10, London, UK
2003
Scenes in Perspective, ArTower Agora, Athens, GR
Colours of Dereliction, Site-specific, collaborative project, Liverpool, UK
Changing Channels, Backfabrik, Berlin, GERMANY
Paradise – (Domestic Dreams) Installation, Alexanderplatz Bunker, Berlin, DE
Paradise, Performance, Kunstlerverein Mankasten, Dusseldorf, DE
The Derelict Sensation, Installation, St. Pancras Chambers, London, UK
The Rape of Europe, Luke & A Gallery, London, UK
2002
Visibility vs. invisibility, Installation, Stoke Newington Festival, London UK
Chaos: Contemporary Cosmologies, The Bishopsgate Goodsyard London, UK
M.A.I.S. Exhibition – (Mirrors of Displacement), Installation, Liverpool Biennial 2002, Liverpool, UK
Incubator,m Site-specific sculpture, Hackney City Farm, London, UK
2001
Turkish Artists Group Exhibition, Painting, St Martin s in the Field Gallery, London, UK
Act One, Arcola Theatre Gallery, London, UK
Monitor, Video installation, Gallery X, New York, USA
What If? Reflections on Choice, Multi-disciplinary installation & performance, Kifisias, Athens, GR
14X14, Mafuji Gallery, London UK
What If? In Residence, In Transit, Installation, Teesdale St. London, UK
2000
Corridor Installation, Gallery X, New York, USA
Extreme Exteriors, Installation, Gallery X, New York, USA
Group Exhibition, St Martin’s in the Field Gallery, London, UK