Breaking through a dam

We believe art has the power to reshape the way we experience space, memory and our shared environments. Supporting cultural practices that inspire dialogue and foster new perspectives is an essential part of creating value beyond our products.

There is something close to home in this one. Feltouch has spent years working on the acoustics of interiors, and the lesson has been consistent: a space is not only seen, it is heard. The ring of a room, the echo of a corridor, the quiet of a hall  each holds a record of the time spent there. Breaking Through a Dam asks a version of that question at the scale of a landscape. Our film from the exhibition is further down this page.

Can land be read as an archive?

On view at Salt Beyoğlu until 23 August 2026 and programmed by Gülce Özkara, Breaking Through a Dam brings together the works of 15 artists, exploring the complex relationships between land, memory and archives across a geography stretching from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Gulf.

Dams, canals, oil wells, geothermal plants, surveillance systems and communication towers do not only transform the physical terrain; they reshape the social and cultural bonds formed around them. Through diverse artistic practices, the exhibition examines landscapes shaped by infrastructure, extraction, displacement and colonial histories while envisioning alternative forms of coexistence, solidarity and belonging.

Positioned this way, infrastructure is not only an instrument of control but a metaphor for what seeps through and resists. Collective memory is not erased by these transformations; it becomes inscribed onto the landscape itself. Rivers, wetlands, streets and coffeehouses each hold it.

A geography of sound:
Haig Aivazian

Among the featured works, Haig Aivazian’s installation created specifically for Salt Beyoğlu explores memory, sound and place, continuing his research into the night as a contested space. Reflecting the exhibition’s focus on hidden histories, abandoned nightclubs, surveillance systems, deserts, rivers and everyday urban spaces come together to show how landscapes preserve traces of the past while imagining new possibilities for the future.

Throughout the exhibition, these elements intersect: a colonial “inland sea” project in the Sahara, invisible telecommunication networks, light from an abandoned nightclub, and the sound of sinkholes collapsing centuries into seconds. Here, sound is not background; it is part of the story, just as acoustics should never be an afterthought in spatial design.

Exhibition Breaking Through a Dam (Barajdan Sızanlar)

Venue Salt Beyoğlu — İstiklal Caddesi No: 136, Beyoğlu, Istanbul

Dates 22 April — 23 August 2026

Programmed by Gülce Özkara

Artists Haig Aivazian, Monira Al Qadiri, Al-Wah’at Collective, Mehmet Ali Boran, Can Candan, Aslıhan Demirtaş, Alia Farid, Metincan Güzel, Emre Hüner, Evrim Kaya, Yelta Köm, Fredj Moussa, Dima Srouji, Aslı Uludağ, Merve Ünsal

Supported by Realised with the support of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Feltouch, with contributions from Asya International Movers, Bankerhan Hotel, Eureko Sigorta and Jotun

Our film from Salt Beyoğlu shows the scale, the light and the sound of the installations from inside the space.

Sustainable acoustic design sits at the centre of what Feltouch makes: felt produced from recycled PET fibre, engineered to deliver measurable acoustic performance and a considered aesthetic in interior spaces.

A manufacturer’s responsibility does not end with the product. We are honoured to support this remarkable exhibition and a platform that encourages critical dialogue through art. We invite everyone to experience Breaking Through a Dam at Salt Beyoğlu.

Until 23 August

Breaking Through a Dam is open to everyone, free of charge, at Salt Beyoğlu.