İlkyaz Portakalcıoğlu
İlkyaz Portakalcıoğlu (b. 1995, Cyprus) is a visual artist, photographer, and cultural worker based in Cyprus. Her practice moves gently between memory, displacement, and vernacular photography, using images and archives as a way to tell stories, evoke belonging, and nurture collective remembrance.
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Her current research and artistic work continue to examine the social and emotional dimensions of vernacular photography, tracing how images preserve memory across generations. She uses Hatırla Unutma / Remember Don’t Forget as her aka.
She holds a BA in Photography of Art and an MA in Art and Design from Dokuz Eylül University in Ä°zmir, Turkey. Her master’s research, “Our Home is Now Here: The Reflection of Displacement in Cyprus through Photography,” explores how family albums and everyday photographs carry the emotional landscape of migration and home within Cypriot memory.
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During her BA years, she was part of ESN, volunteering as PR Manager to document and promote intercultural events. Around the same time, she began photographing stage performances and conservatory productions, developing a sensitivity to gesture, rhythm, and light elements that continue to shape her visual language today.
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Between 2015 and 2021, she volunteered at Nesin Art Village, contributing to its interdisciplinary education and art programmes.
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Today, Ä°lkyaz serves on the board of Arkhé LefkoÅŸa, where she organises lectures, and artistic programmes, and leads visual storytelling workshops. Her practice extends beyond the archive towards shared spaces of learning, sound, and connection.