Meriç Algün – A Glossary of Distance and Desire

Meriç Algün was born in 1983 in Istanbul and currently lives and works in Stockholm. The contrasting differences between the make-up of both cities – Istanbul and Stockholm – particularly socially and politically, as well as her movement between the two, play a key role in her practice. Her work concentrates on issues of identity, borders, relations and language through appropriated and “ready-made” texts, collections, and archives. She has explored the Bible as vertical lines of text, never-been-borrowed books in libraries, the bureaucratic language of visa application forms and produced a dictionary of all the common words in Swedish and Turkish languages. Algün has had significant solo exhibitions at institutions including Lunds Konsthall, Lund (2022); Bilsar Arka Binası, Istanbul (2022); Vita Kuben (2019); Rivverun, Istanbul (2019); Spike Island, Bristol (2019); Galerie Nordenhake, Stockholm (2017); ARoS Aarhus Art Museum, Aarhus (2016); Kunstverein Freiburg (2015); Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2015); MOSTYN, Llandudno (2014); Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver (2013); Art in General, New York (2013) and Witte de With, Rotterdam (2012). She participated in the 56th Venice Biennial (2015); 14th Istanbul Biennial (2015); 5th Thessaloniki Biennial (2015); 19th Sydney Biennale (2014); 12th Bienal de Cuenca, Ecuador (2014) and the 12th Istanbul Biennial (2011). Algün has participated in group shows at venues including Fondazione Prada, Athens (2017); Istanbul Modern Museum (2017); Kunsthal Aarhus (2016); Serpentine Sackler Gallery, London (2016); Fundação Iberê Camargo, Porto Alegre (2014); Kunstverein Hannover (2013); Marabouparken, Stockholm (2013); MoCA, Detroit (2013); MAK, Vienna (2013); CCA Wattis, San Francisco (2012) and Malmö Konsthall, Sweden (2012).