Damla Tamer (born in Istanbul, Turkey) is a visual artist and educator living on the unceded Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh territories (Vancouver, Canada). Her practice engages with the intersections of textile crafts and contemporary studio practices, with a special focus on weaving. Her work is heavily invested in searching for a new ethics of temporality through the relationships between aesthetics and politics. Her most recent work focuses on tracing the rise of neoliberal authoritarianism in Turkey and its relation to global movements, the evolution of forms of civil protest and resistance, and the capacities and limits of language and representation in locating oneself in a world that is rife with shifts.
Damla Tamer’s work has been the focus of solo exhibitions at Access Gallery (Vancouver, 2024), Gibsons Public Art Gallery (Gibsons, 2022), Darling Foundry (Montreal, 2013) and the Fifty Fifty Arts Collective (Victoria, 2018), included in The Artist’s Studio is Her Bedroom at the Contemporary Art Gallery curated by Kimberly Phillips (Vancouver, 2020), and featured on the cover of Capilano Review (3.42: Translingual). She has received many grants and international fellowships, including a 3-month residency at the Stundars Museum in Finland. She teaches as a lecturer at The University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, and Emily Carr University of Art+Design.
Damla Tamer has done social-collaborative work as part of various artist collectives and co-operatives. She is a founding member of the artist mothers collective A.M. (Art Mamas) and has organized extensive public programming and co-published a book on motherhood, care giving and social reproduction in relation to art and labour at large.
For exhibition and sales inquiries, please contact:
damla.tamer.info(at)gmail.com
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 Biber Bahçesi / Pepper Garden, Access Gallery, Vancouver, CA
2022 Knots and Syllables at Gibsons Public Art Gallery, Gibsons, CA
2018 The Experience Class, Fifty Fifty Arts Collective, Victoria, CA
2013 “Due to its nature, it only moves forward.”, Fonderie Darling, Montreal, CA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS AND SHOWS
2024 221A Fellowship Shortlist Exhibition, 221A Pacific St., curated by Asia Jong
2023 Transmissions, Evergreen Art Gallery, Coquitlam, CA, curated by Katherine Dennis
2021 Making Home, Fort Gallery, Fort Langley, CA, juried by Kira Wu
2020 The Artist’s Studio is Her Bedroom, Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, CA, curated by Kimberly Phillips
2019 Not Sent Letters&Guests, Toast Collective, Vancouver, CA, organized by Jeremy Todd
2018 Workhorse Show Pony, Access Gallery, Vancouver, CA
2017 Quality Time, Arbutus Gallery, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey, CA
2017 She-i-la: Women, Art and Production, Fazakas Gallery, Vancouver, CA, curated by LaTiesha Fazakas
2016 Spiritual Pilgrimage (Print Ready/Zine Club Collab), WORM, Rotterdam, NL
2014 Paper Presents, Gam Gallery, Vancouver, CA
2013 So Good It Hurts, Access Gallery, Vancouver, CA
2011 Happy, Helen and Morris Belkin Art Gallery, Vancouver, CA
2010 Yet Not Quite, AHVA Koerner Library Gallery, Vancouver, CA
2010 Kasa 10th Year, Kasa Gallery, Istanbul, TR
2010 Mind Models, Borusan Musichouse, Istanbul, TR, curated by Necmi Sonmez
2009 Lichtfeld 9, Basel, CH, curated by Fredy Hadorn
2009 14th Biennial of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterrenean, BJCEM, Skopje, MK
2009 Plein Le Cube, La Vitrine, St. Jean-Port-Joli, CA
2009 Skopje 0909, Kasa Gallery, Istanbul, TR
2009 lllicit Practice, C.A.M Gallery, Istanbul, TR, curated by Ahmet Elhan
2008 Contemporary Istanbul ’08, Istanbul, TR
2007 In Between, SU FASS Art Gallery, Istanbul, TR
ARTIST RESIDENCIES AND FELLOWSHIPS
2025 Residency at the Belgrade Artist studio, Belgrade, RS
2024 Shortlisted for the 221A Fellowship
2024 Leighton Independent Artist Residency, Banff Centre for Visual Arts, Banff, CA
2022 Fellowship at Atelje Stundars, Stundars Museum of Art and Craft, Solf, FI
2021 Group residency with Art Mamas at Plot, Access Gallery, Vancouver, CA
2018 Residency at Plot, Access Gallery as part of the Arts Assembly programming, Vancouver, CA
2009 Residency at Est-Nord-Est, St. Jean Port Joli, CA
2008–2009 2-year fellowship at ArtCenter/Istanbul, Borusan Culture and Arts, Istanbul, TR
AWARDS, GRANTS AND NOMINATIONS
2024 Interlude Artist Support Grant, awarded by Interlude Residency jury
2024 Colleen Anderson Millard Visual Art Endowment Fund, awarded by Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
2023 Concept to Realization, awarded by The Canada Council for the Arts
2022 VSW Community Action Grant, awarded by the Vancouver Status of Women Committee to Damla Tamer & Sarah Shamash
2022 Project grant, awarded by KulturÖsterbotten for a 3-month stay at the Stundars Museum
2022 Research and Creation, awarded by The Canada Council for the Arts
2022 Concept to Realization, awarded by The Canada Council for the Arts
2021 Regional Diversity Grant, awarded to Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Platform of False Creek South by Cooperative Housing Federation of Canada
2021 Regional Diversity Grant, awarded to Unity Garden Collective by Cooperative Housing Federation of Canada
2021 Seara Fund, awarded by Sector Equity of Anti-Racism in the Arts
2020 Research and Creation, awarded to Art Mamas by The Canada Council for the Arts
2020 Research and Creation, awarded by The Canada Council for the Arts
2019 Studio Subsidy Award, awarded by 221A and City of Vancouver
2018 Faculty Association Conference Travel Grant, awarded by UBC
2012 Nomination for the Future Generation Art Prize organized by Victor Pinchuk Foundation, nominated by Gareth James
2011 Andrew MacIntosh Book Prize in Fine Arts, awarded by AHVA UBC
2010 B.C. Binning Memorial Fellowship, awarded by AHVA, UBC
2009 Roloff Beny Foundation Scholarship, awarded by AHVA, UBC
2009 UBC Faculty of Arts Graduate Award, awarded by UBC
2018–2019 Borusan Culture and Arts Artist Grant, awarded by Borusan Foundation, Istanbul
2003–2007 SU Entrance Merit Scholarship, awarded by Sabanci University, Istanbul
EXHIBITION ESSAYS, PRESS REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, WRITING AND PUBLICATION CONTRIBUTIONS
Johal, Am. Podcast interview, Below the Radar, 2024.
Özden Fırat, Begüm. The Garden of Undigested Experiences. Exhibition essay for Biber Bahçesi / Pepper Garden at Access Gallery, 2024.
Belcher, Katie. Drawn down, drawn closer. Curatorial essay for Biber Bahçesi / Pepper Garden at Access Gallery, 2024.
Book facilitation and essay contribution. art/mamas: Intermedial Conversations on Art, Motherhood and Caregiving, 2022.
Book contribution. To Become the Next Generation’s Ancestors, edited by Dan Starling, 2021.
Feature of works and cover image, the Capilano Review (3.42: Translingual)
Dundas Oke, Emily. Web interview, the Capilano Review, 2020.
Dundas Oke, Emily. Text on Divination Objects, the Capilano Review, 2020.
Wong, Jackie. Interview, Both/and: Artist-parents in conversation as part of The Future Forum, 2020.
Laurence, Robin. Exhibition review, Old Concepts of the Studio Get a Reality Check at the Contemporary Art Gallery. Georgia Straight Online, 2020.
Muchet, Mark. Vancouver collective Art Mamas. News article and video on the work of A.M. (Art Mamas). Exhibitionist, CBC. 2019.
Waxer, Meichen. Contribution to zine publication: Review of work produced during the Arts Assembly Residency, Access Gallery, 2018.
Taşdelen, Erdem. Being-Together-Towards-Objects. Exhibition text for Happy, Helen and Morris Belkin Art Gallery, 2011.
Sönmez, Necmi. Exhibition text for Mind Models, Borusan Musichouse, 2011.
10th Year Compilation. Feature of work in catalogue, Kasa Gallery, 2011.
Tirben, Elif Gül. Exhibition text for lllicit Practice, C.A.M Gallery, Istanbul, 2011.
Ay, Hasan Salih. Exhibition text for In Between, SU FASS Art Gallery, 2011.
EDUCATION
2009—2011 MFA in Visual Art, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, CA
2003—2007 BFA in Visual Arts and Visual Communication Design, Sabancı University, Istanbul, TR
ACADEMIC TEACHING
2012—ongoing Sessional Lecturer, The University of British Columbia, Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory
2022—ongoing Sessional Lecturer, Simon Fraser University, School of Contemporary Arts
2011—ongoing Sessional Lecturer, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Faculty of Continuing Studies
2012—2013 Sessional Lecturer, The University of British Columbia Okanagan (UBCO), Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies
