But here they stand... Women challenging male dominance, highlighting women's pivotal roles in history, dismantling gender norms, battling patriarchal and capitalist structures, advocating for diversity and equality: İpek Duben, Azade Köker, Nancy Atakan, Suzy H. Levy, Dilara Akay, Gönül Nuhoğlu. These are women who firmly believe in the power of collective action and human determination to enact change. Inspired by Duygu Asena, a trailblazer in her own right, they affirm that 'Woman Has a Name'.

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The thematic structure of this exhibition, created by the artists and their works, is built on productions that reflect on the codes defining female identity, rooted in the understandings of tradition and modernity, the stereotypes of gender, body, and identity, family memories, violence against women, prohibitions, and rights—topics that never lose their relevance. The works explore these timeless themes through an effort to raise awareness, blur boundaries, and present personal and intimate realities, highlighting existential questions regarding both gender and identity.

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İpek Duben has been drawing inspiration from the wounds, problems, and reflections of her own life within society since the 1980s. Her series of iconic works—‘Şerife,’ ‘Love Book,’ and ‘Love Game’—deal with social identity, gender, violence against women, othering, prejudice, migration, and memory, which she believes are at the core of Turkish society. By making the invisibility of these everyday occurrences visible, Duben challenges the societal perception of women. In this exhibition, you will find yourself in the midst of a dangerous game, spinning the wheel and choosing your own killer.

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Azade Köker’s sculpture "Tutku" (Passion), created in the early 2000s and removed from its place in Altınpark, Ankara, because it was deemed “immoral,” exemplifies how much things have not changed. Themes such as identity, belonging, nature, urbanity, war, and migration are not separate; they are interconnected, and in the end, it is always women who are most affected. This is a structural phenomenon, an evolving formation shaped through layers. Azade Köker's works in this exhibition raise questions about illusion and reality, weaving through themes of the life cycle, rebirth, and the productivity of feminine energy. There is no rambling complaint in her portrayal of this world; the power of art is to shake us and bring us back to ourselves. The artist asks: "How is it that the feminine energy, which is the source of the birth of the world and life, fades away in the social order? What silences, limits, and makes it passive?"

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In the 1600s, Artemisia Gentileschi confessed in her letters: "A woman's name must arouse suspicion until the work is revealed." It has been a long time since women were historically considered secondary in art, but the statistics of women artists who can enter museums and appear in major collections suggest that much is still to be done. Nancy Atakan believes that for women artists to assert themselves, they often have to adapt like chameleons, deny their female identity, and imitate the artistic production defined by men, which conflicts with the free will and creativity inherent in art. She rejects painting and seeks alternative artistic forms, creating a space where she develops her own authentic language. This is what we witness in her works in this exhibition.

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Suzy Hug Levy states, “Nature and women—these two are the foundations of my work. Both are creative.” The ongoing tension between us and nature triggers an artistic response. Suzy Hug Levy has developed a unique universe and an expression that reflects it. Many things removed from nature due to human intervention are reintegrated into the spiritual system through the artist's intervention. She creates works that address the disturbance of the world’s wounds, particularly affecting women and children. The works in the exhibition, like women’s bodies woven from wire, have been redesigned with delicate care to make them stronger, more resilient, and less fragile, giving them a new existence.

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Dilara Akay brings to the forefront, through her artistic works, the tools used in society to assign roles to women and uses them to empower women. One of these tools is the hair sculpture symbolizing women. Another of her sculptures in the exhibition speaks to us with an act of defiance and rebellion. "I wanted to voice the women who were historically silenced, starting with my own family," says the artist. There is a playful defiance and threat in her work, as seen in symbols like the Hindu goddess Kali, the Rolling Stones, and Einstein.

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John Berger, in Ways of Seeing, says, "Men watch women, and women watch themselves being watched." Gönül Nuhoğlu’s works prompt a reflection and re-evaluation of what it means to truly "see" and "be seen" in an age where visibility is often equated with vulnerability. "...There is no need for weapons, physical violence, or material limitations. Only a look. A watchful gaze, and everyone who feels the weight of that gaze will internalize it so deeply that, in the end, they will reach the point where they themselves become the object of observation; thus, everyone will practice this surveillance on themselves and others. The 'power' being observed takes control, in other words, everyone is 'taken into custody.' The 'EYE,' as the organ of power, continues to threaten freedom."

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