Curated by Selen Ansen and Eda Berkmen, the exhibition Folia organised under the auspices of Koç Holding will welcome visitors at the Bağlarbaşı Abdülmecid Efendi Mansion between 21 September 2025 – 1 March 2026. Interpreting natural processes through a wide range of media and materials, the exhibition brings to life an imaginary garden to rethink the interactions between plants, animals and human beings.
Drawing from the idea of the “enchanted garden” envisioned by Ömer M. Koç, Chair of the Board of Directors of Koç Holding, the exhibition Folia co-curated by Selen Ansen and Eda Berkmen will open to the public at the Bağlarbaşı Abdülmecid Efendi Mansion. This comprehensive exhibition brings together works lent by institutions, artists and collectors from Turkey and abroad along with works especially produced for the occasion with the support of Koç Holding. Folia will welcome visitors from 21 September 2025 to 1 March 2026 every day except Mondays between 11:00 and 19:00.
The exhibition Folia takes its cue from the dual meaning of the Latin word “folia” referring to tree leaves and by extension, to botany and nature on the one hand, and to folly and excess on the other. This enchanted world that connects with the architecture and the historical background of the Abdülmecid Efendi Mansion will take visitors on a journey where fantasy and reality, earth and sky, the minuscule and colossal, the eerie and the familiar intersect and mingle. In the multilayered garden embodied by Folia, man-made forms and creatures evolve, blossom, perish, regenerate, proliferate, merge and metamorphose. The works on display interpret organic processes through various media and materials, encouraging visitors to rethink the mutual interactions between flora,
fauna and human beings.
The works embodying Folia draw on the symbolic and cultural meanings attributed to gardens throughout history. Shedding light on the seasonal processes of gardening and the various gestures and activities it encompasses, they also explore the concepts of magic, ecstasy and utopia. The exhibition’s trajectory, which connects the indoor and outdoor spaces of the historic mansion, seeks to provide a pluri-sensorial experience that bridges the vitality and abundance of nature with human imagination. Featuring nearly a hundred artists and over three hundred works, Folia brings together artworks from various geographical regions, ranging from Japan to South Africa, and from different periods since the 19th century, with artifacts pertaining to popular culture, botanical science and
craftsmanship.
Participating artists: Melike Abasıyanık Kurtiç, Leonce Raphael Agbodjelou, Ahu Akgün, Erol Akyavaş, Douglas Allen, Stephen Allwright, Darren Almond, KorayAriş, Volkan Aslan, Charming Baker, Gökhun Baltacı, Tufan Baltalar, Sena Başöz, Mehtap Baydu, Pascal Bernier, Freya Bramble Carter, Arthur Brusenbach, Dietmar Busse, CANAN, Ana Corberó, Linda Cordell, Angelique de Folin, Karen Densham, Benjamin Edols & Kathy Elliott, Adrian Geller, Antony Gormley, Michel Gouéry, Simon Groves & Tracy Johnson, Işık Güner, Andy Harper, Michel Henricot, Katherine Houston, Henar Iglesias, Ingela Ihrman, Fatoş İrwen, Eva Jospin, Tamar Kasparian, Nermin Kura, Odine Lang, Nathalie Latour, Rebecca Louise Law, Bernard Leach, David Leach, Zachari Logan, Kate Malone, Alix Marie, Napoleone Martinuzzi, Gerard Mas, Nico Masemola,Tony Matelli, Lindsey Mendick, Polly Morgan, Maria Nepomuceno, Henrique Oliveira, Simon Palmer, Eugenio Pattarino, John Pearson, Cathie Pilkington, Maarten Ploeg, Herbert G. Ponting, Etienne Pottier, Bill Prickett, Wilfred Pritchard, Camila Rocha, Karin Rosenthal, Jennifer
Ross, Necla Rüzgar, Anıl Saldıran, Shinichi Sawada, Bonnie Seeman, SENA, Holly Stevenson, Jessica Stoller, Antonio Susini, Yaşam Şaşmazer, Michael Taylor, Defne Tesal, Onno Theelen, Nikolay Tolmachev, Sally Tuffin, Sam Tufnell, Merve Tuna, Paloma Varga Weisz, Kukuli Velarde, Lee Wagstaff, James Webb, Anne Wenzel, Douglas White, Zoe Williams, Christopher Winter, Ecem Yerman, Y. Bahadır Yıldız, İsmail Yılmaz, Sıla Şehrazat Yücel and Anonymous.
Press release from Koç Holding
Image: Anne Wenzel. Still Life –Metamorphosis (Large Deer). 2022. Ceramics and metal. Photography by Hadiye Cangökçe. Image Ccourtesy of the artist, AKINCI Amsterdam and Galerie Suzanne Tarasieve Paris
