A Disenchanted World

A Disenchanted World (Büyüsü Bozulmuş Dünya) is a group exhibition of twelve artists at Lenzart Space in Nişantaşı, Istanbul, running from 15 October to 28 November 2026. Curated by Derya Yücel, it is the opening show of the gallery. Painting, watercolour, embroidery, woodblock printing, copper wire sculpture and installation fill the space, from earthen vessels of water to a cabinet of bottled plants.

The exhibition takes its starting point from Max Weber's idea of the disenchantment of the world, and from The Gods of Greece, written by Friedrich Schiller in 1788. The curatorial text argues that reason, bureaucracy and calculation have thinned the shared ways of deciding how to live, and that data, algorithms and ecological damage push this further. The artists do not look back with nostalgia. They reshape myth, ritual and old symbols through their own bodies, memories and places. Snakes, birds, water, stones, eyes and caves recur, each holding opposite meanings at once: the snake as poison and cure, the eye as watchfulness and protection.

Kezban Arca Batıbeki's WADJET (2024) works acrylic-based mixed media on canvas with hand-embroidered sequins and beads, freeing the snake from its role as an emblem of sin. Serpil Yeter's Lilith, in turn, centres a woman who refuses to obey. Ali Şentürk shows watercolours on paper, including work from his Kırmızı Özetler (Red Summaries) series, where hands hold, press and shape a body built from veils of red. CANAN's Vuslat renders Burak, the figure from Islamic tradition who carries a rider to the divine, in copper wire filigree that casts a second image as shadow. Bawer Doğanay's Nîqaş turns to the fading woodblock printing craft of Mardin and to Nasra Teyze, among the last people still practising it. Hande Dilaver's archive holds plants she has gathered across Turkey since 2022.

The hang breaks with the spacing of the white cube. Works sit close together, sometimes almost overlapping, so the small gallery feels nearer to a shrine or a nest than a neutral display. Nazlı Gürlek Hodder's installation runs earthen vessels of water and ancient pebbles through the gallery, and visitors are invited to whisper intentions to them. The gallery is open Monday to Saturday, 11am to 6.30pm.