The walls of Burhan Doğançay at the MAH

Explore the world of the Turkish artist through more than 50 fascinating works in which each drawing and painting tells a unique story. On show from 23 September 2023 to 11 February 2024 at the Museum of Art and History.

Consult the event flyer

Universal language

In 2018, the Museum of Art and History received a major donation of works by the Turkish artist Burhan Doğançay (1929-2013), which could be seen in major museums around the world.

More than fifty of these works (drawings and paintings) are presented in this new exhibition. They all belong to the “Walls of Israel” series created in 1975.

Urban walls

The artiste became interested in urban walls in the mid-1960s, but it was only in 1975 – when he travelled to Israel – that he began his slightly mad “Walls of the World” project: a unique archive comprising approximately 30,000 photographs of walls taken in 114 countries throughout his career.

This material and the sketches he made on site formed the basis of his graphic and painted works which depict, reframe, rework and reinterpret walls from the four corners of the globe, highlighting shared hopes and a common universal language.

The exhibition is the subject of a catalogue in collaboration with the Kunst Museum Winterthur, which will host a second stage of the exhibition in 2024.