Leyla Yenirce, born 1992 in Qubîn, Kurdistan, completed her studies in Metropolitan Culture at HafenCity University Hamburg in 2015. She went on to study Fine Art at the University of Fine Arts, Hamburg. Yenirce has received numerous awards, including the Karl H. Ditze Prize (2020), the Federal Prize for Art Students (2021), the exhibition and catalogue grant of the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation (2021), and the Play-ground Art Prize. She is also a fellow of the Heinrich Böll Foundation’s scholarship pro-gramme for young talent. She has participated in group shows at such venues as Bun-deskunsthalle, Bonn, DE (2021/2022), the Kurdish Film Festival, Berlin, DE (2020), Kun-stverein in Hamburg, DE (2020), and Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof in Hamburg, DE (2019). In autumn 2022, the Kunsthaus Hamburg will present her work in a solo exhibition.

In her videos, installations, and performances, Leyla Yenirce engages with multifaceted aspects and issues of cultural as well as media dominance structure. Using found footage, she often creates cinematically staged pieces that explore subjects like feminism, war, pop culture, genocide, desire, longing, and irony. Sound is a central element of the artist’s work and is used in a strategic manner in her visually powerful productions.