LOOCK Gallery

Sabiha Çimen spent three years photographing Girl Quran Schools in five cities in Turkey, a subject that she knows very well since she attended the same schools when she was a teenager with her twin sister. After becoming a photographer, she returned to those schools to work on her project that has now become the subject for her first book. The title Hafiz refers to one who has memorized all 604 pages of the Holy Quran. Historically the task of memorization began during the time of Muhammad. The individual process can take up to four years and is usually done by girls ranging in age from eight to nineteen. Turkey has thousands of Quran schools. This world has never been captured with so much intimacy before, as only Sabiha can do, because she is part of this culture. Every photo reveals a different aspect and gives us a deeper understanding of the daily life and the dreams of these girls. Text from Redhook Editions, 2024

Sabiha Çimen born in Istanbul, Turkey, divides her time between Istanbul and New York City. A self-taught photographer, she focuses on women, Islamic culture, portraiture, and still life. Çimen graduated from Istanbul Bilgi University with an undergraduate degree in International Trade and Finance, and a Masters degree in Cultural Studies. Çimen is an associate photographer in Magnum Photo Agency and the recipient of W. Eugene Smith Memorial Grant in 2020, World Press Photo – Long Term Project award 2020 and Lightwork Artist Residency in 2021. Her first photobook, Hafiz, won the 2022 Paris Photo Aperture First Book award.

LOOCK Galerie focuses on contemporary art and primarily represents European, North American and Japanese mid-career artists from the fields of photography, painting and drawing such as Evelyn Richter, Takehito Koganezawa, Irina Ojovan, Alec Soth, Natalia Stachon, Gabriele Stötzer, Miwa Yanagi as well as the estates of Sibylle Bergemann and Christian Borchert. Since 2023, we also represent the young Turkish Magnum photographer Sabiha Çimen. In addition to the art trade at home and abroad and the promotion of fresh voices from the art scene, it is a core concern of the gallery to promote the work of East German artists.