The Canvas team presents a selection of exhibitions to explore this April.
Subsoil at Salt Galata
Rather than presenting a straightforward historical account, Onu Gökmen utilises storytelling to reimagine the aftermath of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster as felt in Türkiye. Subsoil focuses on the discovery of radioactive contamination in the Black Sea by a team of scientists at Middle East Technical University (METU), whose findings were largely minimised by authorities. Blending documentary material with fictional elements, it spans across three scenes: the moment of scientific detection, the role of media and state narrative and the lingering visual trace of the event. By connecting these perspectives, Gökmen reveals how invisible environmental harm shapes memory, emphasising how the effects of radiation continue to resonate across generations and landscapes.
Samovar Swell at Museo Jumex
In their latest participatory large-scale installation at Museo Jumex, Slavs and Tatars centre a traditional container used to warm up and pour tea, the samovar, at the heart of the gathering space they have created. Widely used across Russia, Central Asia and Türkiye, the samovar serves as an emblem of hospitality and of communal coming together. Gathering people around this shared ritual, Samovar Swell provides a quiet moment of respite from the world, not through silence but through sharing a cup of tea with one’s neighbours. The installation further comes to life through a series of interventions, both performance and sound-based, that place multilingualism at the heart of human exchange.
Samovar Swell runs until 19 July
Before our eyes at Z33
Before our eyes, curated by Tim Roerig, examines how ten international artists confront the ethics of seeing and presenting violence. Addressing contemporary political events, with a particular attention to the genocidal violence and Palestine, the works question what to reveal and what to withhold, emphasising the responsibility inherent in looking. Artist Rosalind Nashashibi’s symbolic paintings reflect on Palestinian reality, while Mohammed Sami’s empty interiors evoke absence and Rabih Mroue’s Black Boxes combine newspaper clippings and sound to create a tension between proximity and distance. Other contributors offer works in painting, assemblage, film and photography. Collectively, the show invites audiences to consider visibility and the ethical responsibility of looking.
Before our eyes runs until 23 August
Before our eyes runs until 23 August Cosmic Breath at Ibraaz
Joe Namy’s Cosmic Breath is a sight-specific installation and reimagined for Ibraaz’s Musalla, a space dedicated to spiritual practice as both lived experience and creative expression. Composed recordings of the adhan, the Islamic call for prayer, from different times and places, the work distributes these voices across horn speakers inspired by those found on mosque minarets. Each emits a separate call, forming a dispersed yet connected sonic field that intensifies at prayer time. Drawing on recordings from Makkah, Jerusalem, Singapore and other cities, including London during the COVID lockdown, the installation traces the movement of sound across histories and geographies.
Cosmic Breath runs until 30 August
Aranya Art Center, Guangzhou, 2026. Photography by Liu Xiangli. Image courtesy of Aranya Art Center
In Absence and in Presence: Works from the Sharjah Art Foundation Collection at Aranya Art Center Guangzhou
Exploring ideas of land, memory and belonging across continents, In Absence and In Presence brings together more than 70 works by 28 artists at the Aryana Art Center, Guangzhou. As the largest presentation of the Sharjah Art Foundation collection in Asia, the exhibition spans artistic practices from the 1950s to the present, connecting modern and contemporary voices from West Asia, South Asia and their diasporas. Taking its title from Egyptian artist and poet Ahmed Morsi, the show views land as both a physical and emotional presence. Through painting, sculpture and other media, it highlights how identity, history and imagination remain deeply tied to places.
In Absence and in Presence: Works from the Sharjah Art Foundation Collection runs until 30 August
. Image courtesy of the artist and the gallery Les filles du calvaire, Paris
Bonnes Mères at Mucem
Bonnes Mères delves into the concept of motherhood, using cultural sources from around the Mediterranean to examine its many facets, from highly personal and intimate individual experience, to a socially constructed idea, a political issue and even the subject of much artwork across the globe. The exhibition brings together 17 artists, including Kader Attia, Nour Awada, Fatima Mazmouz and Zineb Sedira across three thematic sections. Through them, audiences are invited to discover the mythology surrounding the archetype of the maternal figure, to unearth the often-hidden truths of maternal care, as well as uncover the relationship between mother and child. With a scenography that lends itself to an immersive and illuminated exhibition experience, Bonnes Mères reveals the many aspects of motherhood, while paying homage to the women whose maternal roles have been overlooked.
Bonnes Mères runs until 31 August
All at Once. An Interplay with Li Taylor at Kunstmuseum Luzern
Curated by Fanni Fetzer, Shirana Shahbazi’s exhibition at Kunstmuseum Luzern sees the artist showcase a series of sweeping installations which are staged in conversation with the work of composer Li Tavor, as well as pieces by other artists. Though Shahbazi’s oeuvre has not been widely exhibited, its themes remain highly relevant, with the artist seeking to investigate the multiplicity of everyday realities. Through multimedia, layered works based on photographs, Shahbazi highlights the capacity of images to hold several truths at once, while providing tools through which to understand physical and emotional space. Thus, the artist presents an alternative aesthetic of society and the problems it engenders.
All at Once. An Interplay with Li Taylor runs until 18 October
