Dr Isil Ezgi Celik, founding director of the curatorial and research platform capitArt, is a social theorist focusing on contemporary creativity. Their experience spans academia and the arts, including work with platforms such as the United Nations. Celik has held roles as a researcher, art curator, project manager, and art director. After founding capitArt in Tokyo, they relocated it to London in 2021. Their work has taken them to France, Turkey, Belgium, India, Japan, Myanmar, and England.
Celik earned a PhD from Nagoya University, Japan, with a focus on international cooperation in the arts, particularly Art Brut and Outsider Art, to promote social inclusion for marginalised people. They also hold a master’s in art and design studies, and a bachelor’s in philosophy, art, and aesthetics, completing their education in Galatasaray University in Istanbul and University of Paris 8 Vincennes - Saint-Denis in Paris.
Celik explores marginalisation within techno-capitalism, merging philosophy, art, and technology. They are passionate about outsider art, including Art Brut and marginal art, as well as digital art, viewing these as extremes of human creativity in the contemporary world. Celik is also a writer and an art practitioner, with contributions to cinema and digital arts.
