Mayıs Rukel
1992, Ordu, Türkiye
Currently based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands

MFA, Ecologies of Transformation, Sandberg Institute, Amsterdam, 2023
BFA, VAV - moving image, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam, 2020
BA, English Literature, Istanbul University, Istanbul, 2015

Artist, writer, filmmaker.
Liberatory remembering * Decolonised archival practices.
Child woven futures * Radical pedagogy.
Conflict transformation lineages.
Befriending ghosts.
Poetic adventures.

Born in Ordu, northern Türkiye, Mayıs spent over two decades living in Istanbul and Ankara before moving to Amsterdam in 2015 to pursue a BFA in Moving Image at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie. He later earned an MFA from the Sandberg Institute's Ecologies of Transformation program, curated and led by Camille Barton; researching art, artist and embodiment as agents for social change and justice.

Mayıs is an older brother to a wonderful sister. He has a background in political science, philosophy, and literature. He is one half of Radical Roots; a community building art project with Lina Bravo Mora, using food and storytelling as acts of care in the context of migration. He colour-grades the works of other filmmakers. He moderates conversations. He is currently working on his first novel.