Derya Akay (born 1988) is a Turkish artist based in Vancouver, Canada. Akay has held numerous solo and group exhibitions in Canada, Japan, Mexico, U.S., and Turkey.^[1][2] In 2010, Akay graduated from Emily Carr University of Art and Design and completed a residency at the Banff Centre.^[3]

Akay's artistic practice involves community organizing, gathering, cooking, food and knowledge sharing, gardening, performance, and installation.^[4][5] Akay often uses tableware, textiles, food, and organic material in installations and performances with a focus on feminized and collective labour, while using intimate and domestic spaces such as kitchens, gardens, and bedrooms to showcase his work.^[6][7][8]

Akay's mother, Dilara Akay, is an activist and artist. They collaborated on Ghost Spring (2018), a work about the political upheavals in Turkey and the loss of loved ones, installed and performed at Mountain View Cemetery in Vancouver, Canada, in association with Grunt gallery.^[9]

Akay has collaborated with artists such as Haruko Okano, T’uy’t’tanat Cease Wyss, Julia Feyrer, and Anne Low.^[10]

• Queer Dowry (2022), What Water Knows, The Land Remembers, Toronto Biennial of Art^[11][12]
• Looking at the Garden Fence (2021), with Vivienne Bessette and Garden Don't Care artist collective at Sahalli Park Community Garden, Elisabeth Rogers Community Garden, Harmony Garden X̱wemelch’stn pen̓em̓áy^[13]
• Meydan (2021), Polygon Gallery^[14]
• The Neighbours Plate (2020), with Dana Qaddah and Amna Elnour, Unit 17^[15]
• Green Grocer (2018), Unit 17^[16]
• with bread (2017), Campbell River Art Gallery^[17]
• Punice (2017), Del Vaz Projects^[18]
• Vancouver Special: Ambivalent Pleasures (2016), Vancouver Art Gallery^[19][20]