Interdisciplinary artist, curator and visual researcher Emrah Gökdemir studied in the Painting Department at Mustafa Kemal University’s Faculty of Fine Arts in Antakya between 2003 and 2007. In 2005, as part of the Erasmus Link to Norway programme, he attended a six-month programme at Volda University College (Volda Høgskule) in Norway, studying textile, wood, metal, painting and sculpture. Since 2012, he has been collaborating with Prof. Yael Navaro of the University of Cambridge on a long-term social anthropology research project on Antakya, which is being prepared for publication as a co-authored book.
A founding member of Antakya Performative Collective, Gökdemir directed the documentary Kuşlar Ne Der?, based on research he conducted between 2017 and 2024.
Working across photography, painting, video and performance, Gökdemir focuses on time, memory, loss, disasters, the unknown and the interaction between humans and nature. His practice explores the intersections of personal and collective memories with space, the body and ecological processes.
Gökdemir participated in the artist residency programme at HALLE 14 – Center for Contemporary Art in Leipzig between 2020 and 2022, and in the Goethe-Institut Thessaloniki artist residency programme from May to July 2024. Since 2022, he has been a member of the curatorial team of Stre!fen Performance Art Festival in Görlitz–Zgorzelec and continues to work in Leipzig.
Emrah Gökdemir provides mentoring support for Hatice Yıldız Züreyk.