Anthropocene Talk and Workshop with Alper Akyüz

One of the standout events of the 9th Çanakkale Biennial was the talk and workshop conducted by Ali Alper Akyüz. Through an interdisciplinary presentation within the framework of the Anthropocene concept, Akyüz explored the relationship between time, the planet, art, nature, and humanity. Additionally, he designed a creative Treasure Hunt aimed at engaging young participants with the artistic content of the biennial in an interactive way.

Akyüz’s talk, “The Time of Humans and Nature – The Anthropocene in the Context of Youth, Art, and Ecology,” was inspired by geoscientist Marcia Bjornerud’s book, Timefulness: How Thinking Like a Geologist Can Help Save the World. Bjornerud warns that compressing human history into a mere instant within Earth’s 4.5-billion-year timeline can be misleading. She emphasizes that the Anthropocene concept challenges this perception by making visible the profound impact of human activity on the planet.

During the talk, Akyüz examined the scales of geological time, human perception of time, and the discrepancies between human-made systems and natural temporal rhythms. He opened a discussion on how these mismatches relate to multiple global crises. Enriched with concrete examples of Anthropocene art, this session offered young participants a new perspective on the concept of time.