Özge Dîlan Arslan (b. 1994, İstanbul) is an artist based in Tkarón:to/Toronto. Working across printmaking, image-making, archiving, writing, publishing, and curatorial practice, she develops living archives through material and discursive forms rooted in ecological relation and cultural continuity.^{Arslan is the founder of ASTAR Editions ¹, an artist-run publishing collective. Her practice has included collaboration with The Asian Canadian Living Archive (TACLA), including the publication Bodies of Knowledge ², as well as research and archival work with the Studio for Media Activism and Critical Thought and SKETCH Working Arts. From 2017 to 2021, Arslan founded and directed Diaspora Express ³, a Southwest Asian and North African art collective focused on community-led exhibitions and cultural programming. Emerging from grassroots community arts contexts, her practice creates conditions for the gathering and circulation of cultural memory and place-based knowledge.

Arslan holds a joint Master of Arts in Communication and Culture from Toronto Metropolitan University and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Media Studies from Carleton University. She is currently a candidate in the Master of Visual Studies (Studio) program at the University of Toronto’s Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design.

For collaborations and conversations, email ozgedilanarslan.studio@gmail.com

Notes}

1.

ASTAR Editions (founded 2025) is an artist-run publishing platform dedicated to experimental work across textual, visual, sonic, and material forms. Rooted in collaborative and relational modes of production, it develops projects that treat publishing as a space for research, cultural memory, and public engagement. Its inaugural project, Sound as Imprint, explores sound, memory, and place-based knowledge. Supported by the Toronto Arts Council.

2.

Bodies of Knowledge (2022) is a publication developed with The Asian Canadian Living Archive (TACLA), bringing together media artworks by Asian Canadian artists, critical writing, and community-held narratives. The project examines non-extractive approaches to archiving and community-based knowledge production. Supported by the Ontario Arts Council.

3

Diaspora Express (2017–2021) was a Toronto-based Southwest Asian and North African art collective that produced exhibitions, workshops, and other kings of community programming.

4.

Threads of Resistance (2022) was a textile arts exhibition at SKETCH Working Arts, co-curated by Arslan while serving as the organization’s archivist. Working from SKETCH’s archive and program histories, the exhibition approached embroidery and weaving as forms of record-making and as ways of carrying history through practice.

5.

Changing the Current (2020) was an interdisciplinary exhibition and conference presented as part of Intersection | Cross-Sections across York University and Toronto Metropolitan University. The project examined how artistic and scholarly practices might interrupt dominant modes of visuality within institutional contexts.