YEKTA TARKI Awarded Alberta Foundation for the Arts Graduate Scholarship in the Department of Art

We are thrilled to announce that Yekta Tarki, a second-year Master of Fine Arts (MFA) student at the University of Calgary, has been awarded the prestigious Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA) Graduate Scholarship. This scholarship, which aligns with the AFA's mandate to promote Alberta art and encourage local artists, recognizes Tarki's exceptional dedication to exploring environmental and artistic themes in her work.

The Alberta Foundation for the Arts Graduate Scholarship is awarded to students who demonstrate excellence in their academic and creative pursuits. It is a testament to Tarki’s outstanding contributions to the field of visual arts and her commitment to the complex dialogue between human activity and the natural world.

Tarki's current body of work, The Fort McMurray Project: Requiem for a Lost Biodiversity, exemplifies the type of thoughtful, socially relevant art that the AFA seeks to support. Rooted in the concept of the Pyrocene—a term coined to describe the era where human-induced fires and wildfires dominate—her project reflects on the devastating effects of the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire, which destroyed over 500,000 hectares of land.

In her artist statement, Tarki delves into how her work serves as a narrative of loss. She transforms raw scientific data, including maps and statistics, into a poignant visual language that captures the fragility of nature. Her use of laser-cut paper to depict 17 species affected by the wildfire symbolizes both their presence and absence, representing the delicate balance of existence that was disrupted by the fire. This method not only emphasizes the species' vulnerability but also challenges viewers to contemplate the broader environmental consequences of human actions.

Tarki's passion for environmental issues and her creative translation of scientific data into art make her a deserving recipient of this scholarship. Her work contributes not only to the field of visual arts but also to raising awareness about critical ecological concerns—locally in Alberta and beyond.

We congratulate Yekta Tarki on this significant achievement and look forward to the future works and insights that will emerge from her ongoing exploration of the relationship between humans and nature.