WCA Art Talks Presents: Migratory Aesthetics in Contemporary Art with Dr. Nilgun Bayraktar
Willits, CA — The Willits Center for the Arts continues its 2025 Art Talks series with a lecture by Dr. Nilgun Bayraktar, PhD associate professor of film and chair of the History of Art and Visual Culture Program at the California College of the Arts. Bayraktar is a scholar of film and visual culture whose work examines the intersections of cinema, art, and cross-border mobility. She is the author of Cinema Beyond Europe (Routledge, 2018) and co-editor of two forthcoming scholarly volumes on visual culture and resistance.
Lecture: Migratory Aesthetics in Contemporary Art
In an era marked by unprecedented levels of forced migration and displacement, how do artists respond to the realities of exile, statelessness, and precarious existence? Dr. Bayraktar will explore how contemporary art engages with the human consequences of border crossings, refugee experiences, and global inequities. This talk will examine both the hyper-visible and unseen aspects of migration, and the ethical questions artists confront when representing lives shaped by crisis, loss, and resilience.
The event takes place at 6:30 p.m., Friday, November 7 at the Willits Center for the Arts, 71 E. Commercial St., Willits, CA. Admission is free, and all are welcome.
For more information, please contact Gary Martin at gtm1950@gmail.com
or 707-972-3326