PhD student co-curates exhibition at SAW on housing crisis

Give Me Shelter

SAW Centre, 67 Nicholas St., Ottawa
October 11, 2024 — January 25, 2025

When Serkan Taycan moved to Ottawa from Istanbul, Turkey to pursue a PhD in Architecture at Carleton University, the housing crisis in Canada caught his attention.

Seeking potential collaborations between art and activism on housing issues, he crossed paths with the SAW gallery. The result is an exhibition, Give Me Shelter, that presents 12 artistic responses to housing insecurity and homelessness by architects and artists from Canada and other countries.

Taycan is the co-curator with Jason St.-Laurent, curator of SAW.

The opening reception of Give Me Shelter will take place on Friday, October 11 at 6:00 p.m. at SAW, 67 Nicholas Street. It includes a panel discussion titled Housing Solutions Now! See event details here.

“A similar problem exists in many parts of the world,” says Taycan, an artist and academic with a background in engineering and documentary photography.

“Housing insecurity is becoming an inseparable part of urban life,” he notes. “It leads to extremely negative social consequences, such as forced evictions, gentrification, and financialization, resulting in dispossession. Additionally, homelessness is becoming an increasingly severe social issue in North America.”

The exhibition features work by the following architects and artists: Alvarado Lang (Gatineau, Que.), Arquitectura Expandida (Bogotá, Colombia), Center for Urban Pedagogy (New York, USA), Abigail Child (New York, USA), Tony Cokes (New York, USA), Guerilla Girls (New York, USA), Joar Nango and Tanya Busse (Tromsø, Norway), Kika Thorne and Adrian Blackwell (Toronto, Ont.) / October Group and February Group, Michael Rakowitz (Chicago, USA), Neal Rockwell (Montreal, Que.), Frank Shebageget (Ottawa, Ont.) and Andrea Luka Zimmerman (London, UK).

“I focused on the spatial and architectural themes of the exhibition,” says Taycan. “My contribution was mostly to include artists and architects who work in these areas. One notable example is Arquitectura Expandida, a nomadic collective based in Bogotá, Colombia. Their work addresses issues related to the right to the city, collective urban benefits, and the rebalancing of power asymmetries in public spaces.”

Taycan has worked for years on the relationship between the city, urbanization, infrastructure, activism, and art. Previously, he carried out projects on art and activism in various international exhibitions, including the Venice Architecture Biennale.

“I believe there are productive intersections between architecture, social policies, and art,” he says. “I aspire for this exhibition to facilitate similar discussions and productions, especially at the Azrieli School of Architecture & Urbanism and in the broader context of Ottawa.”

Give Me Shelter is the inaugural edition of SAW’s new triennial exhibition of art and activism.

Focused on social practice and community activism, the participating artists propose a wide range of projects. Together, the works in the exhibition urge viewers to consider how we might create more equitable and compassionate systems that provide safe housing for all.

“Events like this are important for reminding people that housing is a means of shelter, not a financial instrument,” says Taycan.