“Breaking Through a Dam” explores how the absence of a direct equivalent for “landscape” in Arabic and Turkish reflects different ways of relating to land, memory, and place. Bringing together works from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Gulf, the exhibition examines how infrastructures—from dams and oil wells to surveillance systems—reshape both terrain and social bonds, while also becoming sites where collective memory is inscribed and preserved. Drawing on Noura Erakat’s call to “keep pushing,” it frames these structures as both tools of control and points of resistance, where memory seeps through and connects shared histories beyond national borders. Through diverse narratives—ranging from colonial remnants and migration to environmental destruction and resilience—the exhibition envisions a collective ground of “being-with-place” rooted in solidarity, remembrance, and interconnected experiences.

Artists: Haig Aivazian, Monira Al Qadiri, Al-Wah’at Collective, Mehmet Ali Boran, Can Candan, Aslıhan Demirtaş, Alia Farid, Metincan Güzel, Emre Hüner, Evrim Kaya, Yelta Köm, Fredj Moussa, Dima Srouji, Aslı Uludağ, Merve Ünsal