"Creativity takes courage," the well-known artist Henri Matisse said. This statement is true particularly in regimes where there is little freedom of expression and many taboos concerning nationality, religion, history, politics, and other issues.
Courage is rarely found in oppressive regimes such as Turkey. But Serpil Odabaşı, a prominent Kurdish artist, has produced ground-breaking art and has shed light on many human rights abuses both in and outside Turkey.
Odabaşı is from the city of Diyarbakir. She studied art at a university in Ankara, then worked as an art teacher in Anatolia and Istanbul in the 2000s. She encountered racist pressure and attacks because of her Kurdish identity and art. She held over thirty exhibitions across Turkey, and left her country for Canada in 2011.
