Forecast Türkiye: Memory of Water / Suyun Belleği
Invisible Dust is collaborating with Teos Culture and Art Association based in Izmir, Turkey, to co-curate our most recent edition of Forecast.
Forecast Türkiye: Memory of Water / Suyun Belleği sees UK artist Shezad Dawood and Alice Sharp, Invisible Dust Artistic Director, join Aşkın Ercan, Melisa Geçalp, Sarp Keskiner, Gökçe Süvari, Pınar Boztepe, Sinan Kılıç of the Karantina Collective, and Güneşin Oya Aydemir.
In Forecast Türkiye, artists and scientists from the UK and Turkey create new narratives on the future of human relationships and the folklore of nature around one of the world’s seven wonders, Ephesus; the winding Menderes River Delta, Pamucak swamp, and Scarborough coast.
Through artist exchanges, scientific workshops, artist talks, online presentations and exhibitions – held both in Selçuk and Scarborough – the project aims to establish a common ground for sharing practices, knowledge and ideas about the impacts of climate change and pollution across biodiversity, river systems, seas and their communities.
One of the Earth’s oldest places of ideas
Forecast Türkiye: Memory of Water / Suyun Belleği will focus on future thinking from one of the Earth’s oldest places of ideas. It brings together artists and scientists to draw inspiration from the beautiful nature of Selçuk, the area around Ephesus; once an ancient port on the Menderes River Delta.
Ephesus was a theatre capable of holding 24,000 and home to famous ancient polymath thinkers such as Heraclitus, who viewed the world as constantly in flux, declaring that “everything flows”. This is apt for our focus on the Menderes River Delta and Scarborough’s marine wildlife, including the Little Meandros Delta and the ancient swamps of the Pamucak coast (which is still a migratory habitat of hundreds of species, some of which are endemic). In both countries, the water systems and nature continuously suffer from pollution and the effects of climate change.
An exchange of practices and ideas
An artists-in-residence programme took place in Selçuk, İzmir between 20–26 January 2025, with the participation of Aşkın Ercan, Melisa Geçalp, Sarp Keskiner, Gökçe Süvari, Güneşin Oya Aydemir, Pınar Boztepe, Sinan Kılıç and Shezad Dawood.
Field trips during the programme include the Barutçu lakes and Little Meandros River, and scientists from Izmir and Istanbul, including marine biologist Muharrem Balci,, joined the artists’ debates, with a focus on the effects of climate change and environmental pollution on the Küçük Menderes basin.
In Selçuk, the collaborating parties amplify the voices of residents (particularly rural women). Contributing scientists, archaeologists and activists include those from Istanbul, İYTE – Newcastle, Hull Universities, and Çamptepe Ecological Life Center, plus respected experts on marine biology, tangible cultural heritage, collective memory and ecology.
In autumn 2025, the artists from Turkey visited Scarborough for a programme of research, presentations and debates.
“No man steps in the same river twice”
Heraclitus, philosopher c. 500 BC
Exhibition – Forecast Türkiye: Memory of Water / Suyun Belleği
Exhibition: 17 September–25 October 2025
Bayetav Sanat, Pagy Mansion, İzmir, Türkiye
Open daily (except Mondays) 11am–7pm
Artists: Shezad Dawood (UK), Aşkın Ercan, Pınar Boztepe, Sinan Kılıç, Sarp Keskiner, Gökçe Süvari, Melisa Geçalp, Güneşin Oya Aydemir (Turkey), and Can Luca Etterlin (Switzerland-Estonia).
Forecast Türkiye: Memory of Water / Suyun Belleği programme focuses on future thinking from one of the Earth’s oldest places of ideas. Ephesus was one of the Seven Wonders of the World and once a port on the Mediterranean fed by the Menderes River Delta. It held a theatre capable of holding 24,000 people and was home to famous ancient polymath thinkers such as Heraclitus who rightly viewed the world as constantly in flux, declaring that ‘everything flows’. This is our starting point in a world of climate change, inequality and uncertainty.
Book Launch – Forecast Türkiye: Memory of Water
On 19 October 2025, a new publication Forecast Türkiye: Memory of Water, celebrating the ideas and artworks from this cross-cultural project exploring water, memory, and connection, will be launched at the Bayetav Sanat, Pagy Mansion, Ízmir.
Partners and Supporters
Forecast Türkiye: Memory of Water / Suyun Belleği by Teos Arts and Culture Association and Invisible Dust is supported by the British Council’s Creative Collaborations Grant Programme. In partnership with the Municipality of Selçuk, Çamtepe Ecological Life Center, the Old Parcels Office, and scientists from Hull and Istanbul Universities.
