Özgür Kar

Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp | Belgium

SAHA supports Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp within Özgür Kar’s new project between 24 May – 7 September 2025.

The first institutional solo exhibition of Özgür Kar in Belgium, MALAISE, features a new site-specific installation. The presentation includes theatrical sound and video installation that explores themes of collective unease, stagnation, and endurance. For MALAISE, Kar will create a site-specific installation consisting of a large-scale animation and a sound piece. This work marks a significant turning point in his practice, as he explores the architectural aspects of the space, the concept of theatricality through the use of scenographic elements such as light and sound, and themes of belonging and isolation—where emotions of closeness and estrangement remain in constant tension.

Özgür Kar (1992, Ankara) lives and works in Amsterdam. Kar’s works assemble in space to function as scenes from theatre pieces: each serves as a character playing its part within a non-linear score and script. Working with voice actors and instrumentalists, Kar produces multi-part soundscapes that unfold through solemn repetition, forging existential dread mixed with cartoonish macabre. Stoic in their contemplation, his minimally animated drawings are set in imperceptible loops that turn videos into sculptures confined within the edge of television screens. Beyond the campness of macabre, or the grotesque anxiety of death juxtaposed with cartoonish figures, the theatricality of Kar’s work is set in tonal displays of contemporary existentialism.

About M HKA

M HKA is an international museum of contemporary visual art and culture. Deeply rooted in the Antwerp avant-garde, with a strong international connection. M HKA offers a divers programme with large-scale exhibitions and intimate presentations, by established artists and up-and-coming talent.