Ali Kazma was born in 1971, Istanbul, and he completed his undergraduate studies in the United States in 1993. After briefly studying photography in London, he returned to the US to study film in 1995. He received his MA from The New School University in New York City where he worked as a teaching assistant.
The video–artist, best known for his series documenting human activity, and labor that explores the meaning of production and social organisation.
Ali Kazma was granted the 2001 UNESCO Award for the Promotion of the Arts and received the 2010 Nam June Paik Award for his ‘Obstructions’ series, which he has been working on since 2005. Kazma’s video works question and explore the different rhythms and states of human existence and its relationship to contemporary conditions. He has exhibited his works at the Istanbul Biennial (2001, 2007, 2011), Tokyo Opera City (2001), Platform Garanti Istanbul (2004), Istanbul Modern (2004), 9th Havana Biennial (2006), San Fransisco Art Institute (2006), Lyon Biennial (2007), Francesca Minini, Milan (2008, 2012, 2015), 55° Venice Biennale, Pavilion of Turkey (2013), Jeu de Paume Paris (2017).