Sümer Erek

London//Lefkosia

sumererek1@gmail.com

sumererek.xyz

Sümer Erek is a multidisciplinary artist born in Cyprus and working between London and Lefkosia. He began his studies at Mimar Sinan University in Istanbul before moving to London, where he completed a BA and postgraduate degree in Sculpture at Saint Martins, followed by an MA in Transnational Art, Identity and Nation (TRAIN) at University of the Arts London. His practice is shaped by lived experiences of displacement, trauma, and the search for new futures, often unfolding through long-term, participatory, and site-responsive work.

Erek works across painting, installation, performance, and socially engaged practice, frequently activating public spaces. Listening is central to his methodology; many projects begin with personal or collective stories, which he transforms into poetic visual languages. Originally trained as a sculptor, he approaches objects as containers of memory—structures through which new worlds, imaginaries, and shared narratives can emerge. His works are held in public and private collections internationally.

Over the past twenty-five years, Erek has developed an extensive body of work shown across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the UK, including appearances at the Liverpool Biennial / Independent (2002, 2004, 2008), Manifesta-6 related interventions (2006), and numerous exhibitions in galleries, museums, artist-run spaces, festivals, and public sites. His ongoing project ‘Takoz / Σφήνα / Wedge’ (2024–2026) unfolds as a series of acts at Rüstem Kitabevi in Nicosia, exploring the pressures and fractures of contemporary life.

Recent exhibitions include: ‘Erimiş Zaman’ (2025), Mardin Sanat Evi, Mardin; ‘Chronos, It Eats Me’ (2025), Apothikes Papadaki, Limassol; ‘Tears of Gold’ (2025), Nubuke Foundation, Accra; ‘Nomadic Instincts’ (2025), MATCA Art Space, Cluj-Napoca Romania; ‘Imagining Home: Between Walls’ (2024), Nicosia buffer zone; ‘Brittle Lemons Collective’ (2024), Eklektic Manifest, Arkhe, Nicosia; ‘TA London’ (2021) Saatchi Gallery, London. Earlier solo exhibitions include ‘Yırtık Hava’ (2023), BB Projects, Istanbul; ‘Embodied Moments’ (2022), Gallery Marquess, London; ‘Life, Art and Beyond’ (2020), AnOther Place, London; ‘1973–2018’ (2018), ArtRooms, Kyrenia; and ‘Unlived Days’ (2018), Hôte Gallery, Brussels.

Erek is currently a selected artist for ‘Contested Desires: Constructive Dialogues’ (2023–2026), a three-year programme across 11 countries exploring the legacies of colonialism through collaborative and socially engaged methodologies. Recent residencies and conferences include Nova Gorica, Slovenia, Meyman (Mardin), Wejegeh Amed (Diyarbakır), St Wolfgangsee (Austria), the Nubuke Foundation (Accra), and CDCD conferences in Rome, Larnaca and Barcelona. 

His socially engaged projects span over two decades and include ‘Borderless’ (2024, Slovenia), ‘Under the Fig Tree’ (2017-2022, London), ‘Süheyla’s Music World’ (2020, London), *Doodling From the Other Side* (2017, London/Bodrum/Lefkoşa), ‘The Newspaper House’ (2008–2010, London, Liverpool), ‘Raw Earth Project’ (2005–2007) in Cyprus, UK and Europe, ‘Upside Down House’ (2001 London, Liverpool, Glasgow).

In 2026, he will present new work at Xarkis Festival (Cyprus), and ‘Takoz / Σφήνα / Wedge: Act 8 in Nicosia.