“It’s about colors”: Aesthetics and the art of sociability among Turkish Muslim women in exile

Abstract (English)

This paper examines how committed Turkish Muslim women in exile in Belgium and the Netherlands engage with aesthetics and creativity as part of their processes of homemaking and healing. Drawing on long-term ethnographic research, the study examines how painting — an ordinary, non-religious activity — becomes a means of navigating loss, displacement, and the reconfiguration of social ties in exile.
Following the failed coup attempt in Turkey in 2016, these women faced political persecution, leading many to flee abroad. In exile, the once seamless connection between homeland and home was profoundly disrupted, requiring a reimagining of both place and belonging. In this context, creative practices like collective painting lessons have provided not only an outlet for emotional expression but also a foundation for new forms of sociability and solidarity among displaced women.
Rather than centering traditional religious rituals or discourse, this research highlights how everyday aesthetic practices allow committed Muslim women to reframe traumatic experiences, evoke memories of their homeland, and articulate aspirations for the future. Colors, textures, and compositions become ways to express and transform difficult emotions, creating shared spaces of resilience and hope. Here, painting is not only an individual practice of self-expression but also a communal one, weaving new forms of kinship among women who have lost or been separated from their traditional families.
This paper contributes to discussions on forced migration, religion, and aesthetics by emphasizing how mundane, creative acts can play a central role in processes of re-rooting and community building in exile. It also reflects on the relational dynamics of ethnographic research, following feminist approaches that emphasize thinking with care and co-producing knowledge with marginalized communities.
Through this lens, aesthetics is revealed as a vital yet often overlooked dimension of refugee life — a medium through which displaced individuals reclaim agency, reshape their emotional landscapes, and construct new narratives of belonging beyond national and religious boundaries.