Sasha Baydal's presence in Istanbul is part of their ongoing research into the complex migration networks connecting Central, Northern, and East Asia, Europe, and North America, with a particular interest in port cities. These movements take place against the backdrop of geopolitical turmoils and socio-economic transformations in regions with shared experiences of socialism and communism in the 20th century. While socialist ideologies and political alliances once forged connections and shaped patterns of displacement—often through violent means—post-socialist and post-soviet geopolitical shifts continue to have lasting effects today.

In Turkey, Baydal examines the overlapping of historical and newly arrived communities, including those from Ukraine, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and various regions of the "Russian Federation", understood within an imperial-colonial framework. Their research pays particular attention to marginalized communities and the intersections of migration with queer/kvir experiences.

With no fixed project-oriented goal, Baydal's work embraces an open-ended approach rooted in sharing, collective learning, community-building, and forging alliances across spaces and times.

SASHA BAYDAL

Sasha Baydal (they/he) identifies as an interdependent art worker and Eastern European kvir. Their practice as a researcher and curator centers on experiences of displacement and diasporization, the cultural memory of the socialist past and memory loss, as well as their family history shaped by diverse forms of mobility. Their work is informed by postcolonial and queer theory, alongside decolonial approaches, and involves daily efforts in recollection, remembrance, and decolonization.

Since 2014, Sasha has collaborated with institutions such as the Centre Pompidou, Palais de Tokyo, Cité internationale des arts, and Kadist in Paris; HISK in Ghent; Mudam Luxembourg; Triangle-Astérides in Marseille; Capc Museum in Bordeaux; Lviv Municipal Art Center; Pickle Bar by Slavs and Tatars in Berlin; Künstler*innenhaus Büchsenhausen in Innsbruck; among others. Their contributions span exhibitions, lectures, workshops, discursive programs, performances, workshops, and writing. In 2021, they co-founded Beyond the post-soviet (Btps), a collective dedicated to producing and sharing knowledge about the cultural and geographical regions previously referred to as "post-soviet" and "post-socialist."

Sasha’s recent activities include co-curating, alongside Nataša Petrešin-Bachelez, the ongoing itinerant exhibition Displacements and Torrents—Where the Dnipro and the Elbe Meet, participating in the itinerant exhibition Borders Are Nocturnal Animals / Sienos yra naktiniai gyvūnai (curated by Neringa Bumblienė and Émilie Villez) as a member of Btps, and contributing to  "After the End. The Forum on Imagining with Others" at the Palais de Tokyo. They are currently co-curating, with Chantal Pontbriand, the upcoming edition of SPHERE(S), set to be presented in Montréal in 2026.