Murat Morova is influenced by and works on topics such as the coexistance of the East and the West, the relationship between the inside and the outside of individual, mysticism, tradition, body, Islam and Sufism, and references in these fields of study. While using materials such as nylon, tar, glass fibres that the industrial society turns into waste, he also adopts a visual language developed with crafts and symbols such as calligraphy. The artist represents the heterodox approach of the Islamic aesthetics. He cares about tradition, memory and continuity, producing compositions that combine Sufi philosophy with various symbols and references.
Murat Morova (b. 1954) graduated from Marmara University Faculty of Fine Arts in 1977. His first exhibition opened in the years 1987-1988, and in 1989 his works were displayed at the 2nd Istanbul Biennial. In 2001, his works were exhibited at the Venice Biennial, Pavilion of Turkey curated by Beral Madra. At that same year, Morova participated in the “Signs of the City” exhibition held at the Bonn Art Museum with photographic works in which he superimposed his own image onto the waters of Yerebatan (Basilica) Cistern, Istanbul. In 2004, Morova’s drawings, which were exhibited at Galeri Nev İstanbul, were compiled as a limited series of serigraphy titled “Ah Min’el Aşk-ı Memnu”. Among the institutions that the artist had solo exhibitions are Urart Gallery (Istanbul), Galeri Nev İstanbul, Galeri Nev (Ankara), Galeri Siyah Beyaz (Ankara), among the group exhibitions and biennials, C.A.M Gallery (Istanbul), Pera Museum (Istanbul), Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton (Paris), Depo (Istanbul), Martin-Gropius Bau (Berlin), Kunstraum Palais Porcia (Vienna), The Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art (Macedonia), 2nd Buenos Aires Biennial, Borusan Art Gallery (Istanbul), Venue 68 (Vienna), Evliyagil Museum (Ankara). His works are included in institutional collections such as British Museum (London), Huda-Samia Farouki Collection (New York), Baksı Museum (Bayburt) and Westdeutsche Landesbank (Germany).