Ahmet Öğüt

There are countries where certain color combinations cannot be shown as they are reminiscent of unwelcome or banned flags, for instance the rainbow flag in states with homo- or transphobic legislation, the Palestinian flag, or the Kurdish flag. It is part of today’s political struggles to smuggle these colors into the public field of vision. Ahmet Öğüt connects them with niche sports such as bed racing, hobby horsing, or extreme ironing, turning their local clubs into an unusual medium of protest. A sports club at the BAU allows visitors to familiarize themselves with the various disciplines.

Ahmet Öğüt (1981, Silvan, Turkey) is an artist working across media. He often uses humor as well as performative gestures and collaborates with people outside the art world to shift the perception of pressing social and political issues. Recent solo exhibitions took place at Art on the Underground and New Contemporaries, London; Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven; State of Concept Athens; Kunstverein Dresden; and Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen. Öğüt has participated, among others, in the Singapore Biennale 2025 and the Dhaka Art Summit 2023. He lives in Amsterdam and Istanbul.