Umut Azad Akkel’s work focuses on vulnerabilities and dysfunctions in the grey zones of private and public relationships and spaces. He combines objects, drawings and collages, and video performances to develop participatory installations for both public and indoor spaces. His forms function as self-portraits and reflections of his struggle against the societal glorification of masculinity and hyper-functionality.

Akkel shapes the forms and materials of his works to mimic industrial, strong, and functional devices and products. These forms veil individual and collective vulnerabilities, which quietly emerge through their fissures, fissures that participation makes visible.

Participation also reveals deeper and more complex concepts hidden behind the work’s accessible surface. It creates a temporary “utopia” in which hierarchical relations between artwork and audience are suspended.

Born in Turkey, Akkel lived in Istanbul from 2010 to 2015 before moving to Berlin, where he has worked between the two cities since. He holds a BA+MA in Fine Arts from UdK Berlin and a BA in Product Design from Istanbul Kadir Has University. Alongside his studio practice, he organizes events on cultural and political identity, including Fava Connection, Iran 101, and Korean Nomad