Yasemin Elci is a Luxembourg-based curator and art writer whose practice brings together ecological awareness, social engagement, and contemporary artistic practices across disciplines. Working internationally, she develops exhibitions and long-term projects that explore how artists respond to urgent social and environmental realities, and how exhibition-making can evolve through sustainability, accessibility, and inclusion. Her curatorial approach is rooted in collaboration, research, and a belief in art’s capacity to create spaces for reflection, dialogue, and collective responsibility.

A key recent project is Climate Elders (2025–2026), presented at the Museu de Arte Sacra in Belém, Brazil, in parallel with COP30. Organised in collaboration with the nonprofit 1in6by2030, the exhibition brings together visual works, written testimonies, and participatory elements to amplify the voices and wisdom of elderly communities from 21 countries impacted by climate change. Conceived with accessibility and environmental responsibility at its core, Climate Elders uses eco-conscious, locally sourced materials and includes an audio guide for visually impaired visitors. The exhibition welcomed over 11,000 visitors in its first two weeks and received coverage on local television channels.

Since 2020, Elci has been working internationally from Luxembourg, curating exhibitions and projects that engage a wide range of artistic media, including photography, moving image, installation, text, and sound. Her recent exhibitions include Earth Is Not Flat But Soon Will Be (Neimënster, Luxembourg, 2024), A Room of One’s Own (Neimënster, Luxembourg, 2023), and Taming Nature (Valerius Gallery, Luxembourg, 2021). Across these projects, she is particularly interested in how artists position themselves within narratives of social themes and ecological urgency, and how audiences are invited into active, meaningful engagement.

Elci has over fifteen years of experience in the contemporary art field. From 2009 to 2016, she directed Gallery x-ist in Istanbul, representing contemporary artists at major international art fairs including Art Basel Hong Kong, ARCO Madrid, Art Dubai, Vienna Art Fair, Unseen Amsterdam, and Photo London. From 2016 to 2019, she led Leica Gallery Istanbul, where she curated exhibitions with internationally recognized artists alongside emerging voices, while developing public programs and partnerships with non-profit institutions that expanded the gallery’s social reach and impact.

She holds a BA from Dartmouth College in the United States and has served as a teaching assistant in visual arts at Dartmouth College and Aalto University in Finland. Elci regularly participates in international juries and has been a nominator for the Leica Oskar Barnack Award since 2021. Her practice continues to evolve through research, writing, and collaboration, with the aim of creating inclusive, impactful, and responsible cultural experiences that connect local contexts to global conversations.