Tracing Teoman Madra: Early History of Multimedia Art in Turkey

Sezin Romi and Selçuk Artut discuss a long-term research and archival project on pioneering media artist Teoman Madra (1931–2025).

Madra stands as a pivotal, yet until recently under-examined, figure in the art history of Turkey. His prolific career, spanning more than five decades from the mid-1960s to the 2010s, forms a unique and crucial bridge between the analog experimentation of the post-war era and the emerging digital frontier. Encompassing experimental photography, multimedia performance, video, and computer-generated art, his extensive body of work establishes him as a definitive progenitor of media art in Turkey. Despite his pioneering contributions, Madra’s legacy has long remained underexplored in mainstream academic and artistic discourse.

Comprised of documents, photographs, and audiovisual materials, the artist’s archive was assembled and processed by Artut in 2020. In collaboration with Artut and the Madra Family, Salt initiated a long-term research project to situate the artist’s production within an art-historical context. This research will be presented in a comprehensive exhibition at Salt Galata in Istanbul in 2027, featuring a selection of archival materials and artworks alongside oral narratives.

In their talk, Artut will elaborate on Madra’s production through the lens of media archaeology and archival research, while Romi will explore approaches to interpreting, presenting, and making archives accessible.