TunState

İMALAT-HANE is pleased to present “TunState”, a solo exhibition by Aslı Çavuşoğlu, on view from May 17 to September 27, 2025. Featuring new works produced with the support of İMALAT-HANE, the exhibition draws inspiration from nature’s strategies for adaptation and regeneration, offering fresh reflections on transformation and resilience.

Expanding the narrative universe that Çavuşoğlu has been cultivating for years, TunState is more than a display of artistic production—it is conceived as a living ecosystem that engages with concepts of decay, suspension, endurance, and metamorphosis. Initially presented at Barriera in Turin in 2022 and later reconfigured with new works for Museo Jumex in Mexico in 2023, the exhibition now continues its journey in Bursa with a renewed constellation of pieces, maintaining an ongoing dialogue with the artist’s earlier practice.

At the heart of the exhibition lies the bursera fagaroides tree, whose bark first captured the artist’s attention during a research trip to Mexico in 2018. In Çavuşoğlu’s hands, the tree’s shedding bark—an organic response to water availability—transforms into delicate surfaces that bear the marks of time. These fragile materials evolve into handmade paper and become the foundation for a series of works that mirror the biological process of the tardigrade, a microscopic organism capable of surviving extreme conditions by suspending its metabolic activity.

The exhibition takes its name from this remarkable state of suspension—the “tun state”—entered by tardigrades to endure environmental adversity. A sculptural figure of a tardigrade welcomes visitors at the building’s entrance, serving as a symbolic threshold into the exhibition’s conceptual terrain. Within, the convergence of natural and industrial materials—some salvaged, some repurposed—brings into view recurring themes in artist’s practice: impermanence, memory, and transformation.

About Aslı Çavuşoğlu:
Aslı Çavuşoğlu examines the way in which cultural and historical facts are transformed, represented, and interpreted by individuals. Working across various media, Çavuşoğlu often assumes the role of an interpreter, writer or facilitator in her projects in order to highlight the precarious and subjective nature of our shared histories.

Recent solo shows include TunState, Museo Jumex, Mexico City (2023); TunState, Associazione Barriera, Turin (2022); Pink as a Cabbage / Green as an Onion / Blue as an Orange, EK BİÇ YE İÇ, Istanbul (2021) & Kadist, Paris (2020); With Just the Push of a Voice, MASS MoCA, Massachusetts (2020); The Place of Stone, New Museum, New York (2018); Red / Red, MATHAF Arab Museum of Modern Art, Qatar (2016); In Diverse Estimations Little Moscow, RISD Museum, Providence (2014); The Stones Talk, ARTER, Istanbul (2013); Murder in Three Acts, Delfina Foundation, London (2013); group exhibitions and biennials include; Palais de Tokyo (Paris, 2020), Moderna Museet (Stockholm, 2017), Castello di Rivoli (Torino, 2019 & 2017), Manifesta 11 (Zurich, 2016), 14th Istanbul Biennial (Istanbul, 2015), New Museum Triennial (New York, 2015), Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art (Rotterdam, 2014), MAK Museum in Vienna (Vienna), and Performa 11 (New York, 2011). Her works are included in international collections such as; Arter (Istanbul), British Museum (London), Castello di Rivoli (Turin), MATHAF (Qatar), MoMA (New York) and Kadist (Paris / San Francisco).