{"id":13929,"date":"2026-10-30T11:41:49","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T10:41:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/expatax.mt\/?p=13929"},"modified":"2026-10-30T11:45:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T10:45:14","slug":"unpromised-flowers-nazende-afakoglu-journey-trough-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/expatax.mt\/de\/unpromised-flowers-nazende-afakoglu-journey-trough-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Unpromised Flowers: Nazende Afako\u011flu’s Journey Through Art"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some journeys begin with a plane ticket. Others begin long before departure, with the quiet feeling that something in life is ready to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Turkish visual artist Nazende Afako\u011flu, that feeling eventually took her from Istanbul to Mongolia and then to Malta, where a planned one-year stay became seven years of building a home, friendships and an artistic career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, those experiences form the heart of Unpromised Flowers<\/em>, her first solo exhibition, which opened in New York on 23 October 2026. In an exclusive interview with Expatax Malta, she shares the personal journey behind it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Poster<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From Istanbul To Mongolia: Where The Story Began<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Until 2018, Afako\u011flu lived in Istanbul, working in public relations and trade marketing. Although she loved the city, something was beginning to shift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I felt that I had reached the end of a chapter in my life and needed a new experience.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

When her husband received a job offer in Mongolia, the couple decided to embrace the opportunity. Together with their cat, Hera, they moved to Ulaanbaatar, leaving behind everything familiar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While people around her questioned the decision, Afako\u011flu saw the move as an adventure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I was so curious about what it would be like to build a life from scratch, on the other side of the world, in a completely different culture and climate.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Her curiosity extended even to Mongolia\u2019s extreme winters. She remembers stepping outside when temperatures plunged far below zero, simply to experience the cold. The lowest she encountered was \u221246\u00b0C. Yet beneath the excitement of discovering a new country, another experience was gradually unfolding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The emotional consequences of leaving home did not arrive all at once. They emerged through memories, longing and moments of uncertainty, revealing a side of migration that was more complicated than the initial adventure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Through my own experience, I came to realize that migration isn’t just an exciting adventure. It’s also a process of emotional ups and downs.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It was during these years that art began to take on a different meaning in her life. After returning briefly to Istanbul, Afako\u011flu found herself reflecting on the places and people she had left behind. She began turning her uncertainties into creative expression, gradually making more space for an artistic practice that had accompanied her since childhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One of the most important starting points of my artistic journey was simply a pencil and a notebook on a dining table in Mongolia.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

What began at that dining table would eventually grow into a professional artistic journey, shaped by the very experiences that had taken her away from home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Malta Becomes Part Of The Canvas<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Nazende
Nazende Afako\u011flu in her art studio<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 2019, Afako\u011flu arrived in Malta<\/a> with her husband for what was supposed to be a one-year stay. Seven years later, the island has become much more than a temporary stop on her journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we asked what made her stay, her answer was as simple as it was heartfelt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Coming from a city as big as Istanbul, I never imagined I would feel so at home on such a small island.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

But finding a new home does not mean leaving the old one behind. Afako\u011flu speaks openly about missing her family, her culture and the life she once knew. There are moments when she feels caught between two worlds, a familiar contradiction for many who have built lives abroad. Yet Malta has given her something equally precious: close friendships that have become her chosen family and a sense of belonging she never expected to find. She is far from alone Malta\u2019s Turkish community has grown steadily in recent years, with its own markets, restaurants and even a Turkish-language news platform<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The island has also quietly made its way into her art. The colours of the Mediterranean, the textures of nature and the underwater world have influenced her paintings. Even the view from her balcony, overlooking the surroundings of the home that doubles as her studio, has become part of her visual imagination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What began as a personal journey has gradually transformed her artistic expression, taking her beyond painting into video art and installations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Today, art isn’t simply something I do. It’s the way I see the world, make sense of it and express myself.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

For Afako\u011flu, Malta is both a place to call home and a source of inspiration, woven into the art through which she continues to explore what it means to belong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Unpromised Flowers: An Exhibition About The Journeys Within Us<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Entrance<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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