AHMET POLAT

Among his solo exhibitions are “After the Quake” (Zuidplein Theatre, Rotterdam, 1999), “Silence in Kayapinar” (Dordrechts Museum, Netherlands, 2001), “Home Is Where I Left My Dreams” (Karşı Sanat Gallery, İstanbul, 2003), “Old Country, New Country” (Photo Museum, The Hague, 2004), “Home Is Where I Left My Dreams” (Resim Heykel Museum, Ankara, Turkey and KunstKerk, Dordrecht, Netherlands, 2004), “Who Are You?” (Istanbul Modern Museum, Istanbul, 2007), “Neither Here nor There” (NBKS during the Breda Photo Biennial, 2008 and FotoPub Festival, Slovenia, 2009), “Kemal's Dream” (FOAM, Amsterdam, 2010), “Dark Moon” (LhGWR, The Hague, 2011 and Cezayir, Istanbul, 2012), “Kemal’s Dream” (DEPO, Istanbul, 2012). At x-ist he had two solo shows “Submitted to Change” (2005) and “Invitation Only” (2006) and a public space installation “Where Are You?” in 2007. Polat has received the “Young Photographer” award in the 22nd Infinity Awards given by one of the most important photography institutions of the world, ICP (International Center of Photography).

The artist also participated in the group shows titled “Month of Photography” (Lokaal 01, Breda, 2003), “Small Works X” (Gallery R.A.M., Rotterdam, 2004), “The Bison Caravan” (The Water Tower, Vlissingen, 2004), “Travel” (Gallery R.A.M., Rotterdam, 2004), “Old Country, New Country” (Stroom, The Hague, 2005), “Genç Açılım” (Pera Museum, Istanbul, 2005), “Different Dimensions” (Gallery R.A.M., Rotterdam, 2005), “De zilveren Camera” (Photo Museum, The Hague, 2007), “Collection of Hans Kemna” (De Hallen, Haarlem,2008), “Fluorescent Adolescent” (7th International Biennial of Photography, Glaspaleis, Heerlen, 2010), “In what language shall I tell you my story?” (Stedelijk Schiedam, 2012), “Istanbul Modern – Bahrain” (Bahrain National Museum, 2013).

Polat also took commercial and fashion photographs for several international magazines such as French and Turkish Vogue, Paris Match, Marie Claire, Quest and Vice. Among the art fairs Polat participated are Art-Rotterdam, Contemporary Istanbul 07, 12 & 13, UNSEEN Amsterdam 2012 and ArtInternational Istanbul 13. The book of his latest work “Kemal’s Dream” has been launched in the Unseen Photography Fair, Amsterdam in 2012. In 2013, Polat was nominated for the long list of Dutch Doc Award, the largest Dutch photography prize, with his two different projects, “Kemal’s Dream” and “Dark Moon”.