Nilbar Güreş: A Kiss On The Eyes / Pavilion of Türkiye at Venice Art Biennale 2026

Why It Matters

The installation positions Turkey at the forefront of contemporary discourse, influencing global perceptions and opening opportunities for Turkish artists in the international market.

Key Takeaways

• Nilbar Güreş presents “A Kiss On The Eyes” at Venice Biennale
• Work explores intimacy, surveillance, and Turkish sociopolitical narratives
• Installation combines video, sound, and tactile elements for immersive experience
• Türkiye pavilion emphasizes contemporary art’s role in cultural diplomacy
• Critics note the piece’s subtle critique of gender and authority

Summary

The video showcases Turkish artist Nilbar Güreş’s new installation “A Kiss On The Eyes,” featured in the Türkiye pavilion at the 2026 Venice Art Biennale. The piece marks a high‑profile entry for Turkey, aligning contemporary artistic practice with national cultural representation on the world stage.

Güreş’s work intertwines themes of intimacy and surveillance, using a looping video of a close‑up kiss juxtaposed with ambient sounds of city traffic and whispered dialogues. The installation’s tactile components—soft fabrics and reflective surfaces—invite viewers to confront personal boundaries while reflecting on broader sociopolitical tensions in Turkey.

In an interview, Güreş explains that the title references the act of protecting one’s eyes from harsh realities, a metaphor for the nation’s negotiation between openness and control. Critics have praised the subtle gender commentary, noting how the piece challenges patriarchal authority without overt didacticism.

The pavilion’s reception underscores the growing importance of art as soft power; Turkey’s investment in avant‑garde presentations signals a shift toward more nuanced cultural diplomacy. For collectors, curators, and policymakers, the work highlights emerging market interest in politically engaged Turkish art.

Original Description

This is a virtual tour of Nilbar Güreş' exhibition “A Kiss On The Eyes” at the Pavilion of Türkiye at Venice Art Biennale 2026.

Official description: A Kiss on the Eyes by Nilbar Güreş brings together sculpture, installation, painting, video, and mixed-media works on paper and fabric. Güreş draws on lived experience to address questions of gender, migration, and belonging. Her practice focuses on situations shaped by displacement, racism, xenophobia, and discrimination based on religion and belief, and on how these conditions affect everyday life, bodies, and relationships. Underlying her work is a sustained attention to questions of entitlement and responsibility. As Güreş notes: “It disgusts me when people think they deserve nothing but the best for themselves, because that always comes at the expense of others”. This position informs her ongoing engagement with ideas of privilege, merit, and care.

The exhibition takes its title from the Turkish phrase Gözlerinizden öperim, commonly used at the end of a letter to express closeness without intrusion. In this context, the phrase becomes a gesture directed toward the viewer. The exhibition unfolds through spatial relationships rather than a linear narrative, with works remaining close to the ground, leaning, hanging, or hovering. Echoing the Biennale’s theme In Minor Keys, the exhibition embraces subtlety as a form of political strength, foregrounding care as a way of relating.

Nilbar Güreş: A Kiss On The Eyes / Pavilion of Türkiye at Venice Art Biennale 2026. Venice (Italy), May 6, 2026.

#venicebiennale #türkiye #contemporaryart #venezia

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