Basak Senova

Basak Senova is a curator and designer. She studied Literature and Graphic Design (MFA in Graphic Design and Ph.D. in Art, Design and Architecture at Bilkent University) and attended the 7th Curatorial Training Programme of Stichting De Appel, Amsterdam. She has been writing on art, technology and media, initiating and developing projects and curating exhibitions since 1995. Senova is the editor of art-ist 6, Kontrol Online Magazine, Lapses book series, UNCOVERED and Aftermath among other publications. She is an editorial correspondent for ibraaz.org and one of the founding members of NOMAD, as well as the organizer of “ctrl_alt_del” and “Upgrade!Istanbul”.

Senova was the curator of the Pavilion of Turkey at the 53rd Venice Biennale. As an assistant professor, she lectured in various universities in Turkey such as Kadir Has University, Bilgi University, Koç University and Bilkent University. At the moment, she is lecturing at Ankara Social Sciences University. She curated Zorlu Center Collection for two years (2011-2012). She co-curated the UNCOVERED (Cyprus) and the 2nd Biennial of Contemporary Art, D-0 ARK Underground (Bosnia and Herzegovina). In 2014, she acted as the Art Gallery Chair of (ACM) SIGGRAPH 2014 (Vancouver), the curator of the Helsinki Photography Biennial 2014, and the Jerusalem Show VII. In 2015, she curated the Pavilion of Republic of Macedonia at the 56th Venice Biennale and in 2016, Lines of Passage (in medias res) Exhibition in Lesvos.

Basak Senova has been invited to the Resident Fellow Programme by the Academy of Fine Arts of Uniarts Helsinki. The programme is funded by the Saastamoinen Foundation and implemented in co-operation with HIAP.


Experiencing Suomenlinna with HIAP was a very timely gift full of potentials to discover new things through my interaction with the artists and the team. Yet, this gift has another unique aspect: The island allows me to stop; it freezes time, while I watch the clouds moving with amazing speed in the sky… Such an enchanted moment for me to think in tranquility.

— Basak Senova