The exhibition "Testimony" met with Istanbul at Guga Contemperory.
Bringing together the directness of illustrative line, the stark tension of black-and-white contrast, and the weight of contemporary social contradictions, the series positioned itself beyond decorative aesthetics—on the thin edge between seeing and confronting.
The works carried not individual emotions, but the fragile yet persistent voice of a shared memory. Yahya’s linear language draws from an ancient visual lineage—stretching from cave walls to street inscriptions, from protest posters to today’s visual culture.
This language offers a stance that points rather than symbolizes, refusing ornamentation in favor of clarity and political presence.
“Testimony” emerged not merely as an aesthetic choice but as a counter-gesture to sterile abstraction and a call to acknowledge collective contradictions.
Visitors read the weight on the figures, the tension in the faces, and the silent memory embedded in urban surfaces—an invitation not just to look, but to witness.