Travel and displacement are recurring themes in the work of Güler Ates, who was born in Muş, Eastern Turkey, where she belonged to the oppressed Zazaki-speaking minority.  Ates’ multidisciplinary work explores a constellation of themes, including diasporic experience, the ambiguities of domestic space, and the legacies of colonialism.  Drawing upon her own experiences of displacement, Ates has collaborated extensively with members of immigrant and refugee communities.  She is inspired by both Sufi and Alevi religious and cultural traditions.