SAHA Talks: WORK-UNITY for Belly Button | Eda Emirdağ

17 May 2025
Saturday 3 pm
SAHA Studio | İMÇ No.5538

Talk:&nbsp,
Eda Emirdağ
Elizabeth Wewiora
Dr. Helen McGhie

In her presentation titled “Work-Unity for the Belly Button“, taking place at SAHA Studio on May 17 at 3:00 pm, Eda Emirdağ will share the details of her new project “Belly Button”, which was launched at Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool, UK, as well as the experiences she gained throughout the process. The artist will be joined by Elizabeth Wewiora, Head of Social Practice at Open Eye Gallery, and Dr. Helen McGhie, Senior Lecturer in Photography at the School of Digital Arts, Manchester Metropolitan University.

Emirdağ has been exploring capitalism, beauty, and body politics through the lens of the cosmetic/aesthetic surgery industry in Turkey for many years. She expanded her artistic research through collaborative and participatory methods during her artist residency, aiming to explore international dialogues around socially engaged photography. The project opens discussions around topics such as photographic ethics, copyright, privacy, and direct collaboration with communities. Her new video work, Videoessay of Belly Button no:1, supported by SAHA Studio, will also be screened during the presentation.

Supported by a grant through the British Council’s “Creative Producer” training program, the artist researched socially conscious photography practices in Manchester and Liverpool in collaboration with the Socially Engaged Photography Network (SEPN). The fanzine produced during this process and the projects realized with video production support from SAHA were presented to UK audiences on March 8 through a fanzine launch and artist talk at Open Eye Gallery.

Please note that the event will be held in English, with consecutive translation provided.

Eda Emirdağ (1986, Istanbul) is an artist and cultural producer who works with photography and video, as well as in areas such as collage and performance. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on body politics, gender, and local memory. She develops participatory art practices and has collaborated with various art institutions, festivals, and galleries in Turkey and internationally. Based in Istanbul, Emirdağ also founded Montag Residency, an artist-in-residence program in Gönen, Balıkesir, through which she fosters cultural interaction and artistic production in rural areas. Emirdağ’s projects focus on archives, family histories, and women’s cultural heritage, exploring themes of collective memory, healing, and solidarity.
She is a full scholarship graduate of Bahçeşehir University’s Photography and Video department and received a full scholarship for the Art and Design Master’s Program at Kadir Has University.
www.edaemirdag.com

Helen McGhie is an artist and academic. She is a creative researcher based in both academic and practice-led contexts at the Manchester Metropolitan University School of Digital Arts. Through photography, she develops collaborative projects with charitable and community-based organizations. In her presentation, McGhie will focus on a major project with the Kielder Observatory Astronomical Society based in Northumberland, UK. She will also introduce herself to potential long-term collaborators, associations, and charitable organizations in Turkey. www.helenmcghie.com

Elizabeth Wewiora is an artist, curator-producer, and educator. She currently serves as Head of Social Practice at Open Eye Gallery (Liverpool) and leads the MA in Art and Design at the University of Salford. Across her roles, she is interested in how collectively created artistic experiences can promote positive social change. As part of her cross-institutional role between Open Eye Gallery and Salford University, she leads a national initiative—the Socially Engaged Photography Network—which promotes and facilitates discussion around community-led and co-authored photographic practices. Her projects are embedded in environments ranging from the Allotment Society UK to NHS England and Age UK, spanning health, social care, justice, housing, education, and nature-based contexts. www.elizabeth-wewiora.com

Open Eye Gallery
Open Eye Gallery is a non-profit independent photography gallery in Liverpool and one of the UK’s leading photography venues. It is the only gallery dedicated to photography and related media in North West England. The gallery believes that photography can be meaningful for everyone, inform our present, and inspire positive futures. Through working with people, it explores the unique potential of photography to connect, tell stories, question, reflect on human experience, and celebrate diversity and creativity. Open Eye Gallery leads the national development of the Socially Engaged Photography Network (SEPN)—an initiative that brings artists and communities together to collaborate on significant social issues.