Ballons That Stay

A Contemporary Photography Installation

ART FOR HOPE AN EXHIBITION PROJECT DRAWING ATTENTION AND INSPIRATION TO THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ORGAN DONATION

About The Exhibition Project

Balloons That Stay

2025

Nurra Yazici

271 photographs, semi-transparent and photo paper

Balloons express pure joy and the colors of life in a naive language for all ot us, regardless of whether we are adults or children. In fact, they are objects that carry celebration and gratitude in themselves.

Nurra Yazici’s installation called Balloons That Stay also emerged as a symbol of thanksgiving and appreciation. The artist transformed the balloons she multiplied and painted to honor her son Ali’s heart donor every day and to thank him for bringing color to her life into a performance piece.

While the balloons that appear on the first layer become semi-transparent and colorless, the joy and colors behind them are transferred to the balloons integrated into the form. The balloons no longer fly away, their colors no longer lose their light; they now come together in a shared miracle, intertwined with one another.

The installation at the exhibition consists of colored balloons representing the number of days from April 6, 2025, the day of the heart transplant, to the present day.

NURRA YAZICI

Artist, Contemporary Photographer Biography

The artist produces artworks with many experimental applications such as texture in video and digital photography, multi-layered prints in photography, common narrative language of literature and photography. pictorial photography production, paper and surface research in photography.

In her works, especially the sky, clouds, blunt colour transitions, flow, movement, layers, repetitions, inconspicuous details, texture and different surface compositions are at the forefront. She uses emptiness and rhythm in photography as a source that promises infinite possibilities for her works. While focusing on the healing aspect of artworks, the artist uses many different techniques such as multi-exposure photography, pictorialist photography, movement, rhythm, experimenting with printing surfaces and material possibilities.

Nurra is not only an artist but also the mother of a son who had a heart transplant in April 2025.

Curatorial Advisor,

Filiz Ağdemir

Filiz Ağdemir is an independent curator and cultural manager based in Istanbul. Her curatorial practice engages with notions of memory, belonging, and transformation, often exploring how personal narratives and collective identities coexist within spatial and linguistic boundaries. She holds an MA in Cultural Management from Istanbul Bilgi University and completed the Contemporary Art and Curatorial Studies Program at Akbank Sanat and Open Dialogue Istanbul.

Agdemir has curated and directed numerous exhibitions and art programs across Turkey and internationally, including Stains and Clouds (Houston Center for Photography, 2024-2025), Kap/sam (Performance Series, Istanbul, 2024-2025), and Insane (Kursunlu Han, 2024). She was also the curator of the 4th International Istanbul Triennial (2022), titled Borders and Walls as Heterotopic Spaces, organized by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Her work with FN Art Space at Bahçeşchir University and Gallery Luxmundi (Baku, Azerbaijan) reflects her commitment to developing independent platforms for artistic dialogue. Combining her experience in cultural project management. digital art, and NFT based collections, Agdemir’s curatorial vision aims to create spaces where contemporary art can act as a living language of connection, reflection, and renewal.