Şafak Ersözlü is an instructor, performer, director, and researcher at the Faculty of Music and Performing Arts, Department of Acting, at Arkin University of Creative Arts and Design. His work is situated at the intersection of performance, choreography, and interdisciplinary artistic research, focusing on post-mimesis, Theatre of the Real, and contemporary performing practices.

He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Management of Performing Arts with a minor in Comparative Literature from İstanbul Bilgi University in 2012, graduating with honors. He completed his Master’s degree in Modern Dance at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in 2019, with a thesis titled Choreography Guided by Intermodal Art Therapy Methods under the supervision of Prof. Tuğçe Tuna. Currently, he is pursuing his Doctorate in Performing Arts at Dokuz Eylül University, where his dissertation focuses on Post-Mimesis and Theatre of the Real in the 21st Century, supervised by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Banu Ayten Akın. As part of his doctoral research, Ersözlü was awarded the TÜBİTAK 2214-A International Research Fellowship, which enabled him to work as a visiting researcher at the University of Northampton (UK).

As a performance creator and art practitioner, Ersözlü’s original works – such as Pedestrians on the Stoney Bridge, What Now So Far, Enstasis, Black Order and Candle Shrine Cul de Sac – have been presented in various international contexts including İzmir, İstanbul, Berlin, Frankfurt, Prishtina, Sofia, and Athens. His performances and collaborations often examine the relationship between body, space, and community through an interdisciplinary lens.

Alongside his creative work, he has published articles, book chapters, and conference papers on contemporary performance and post-mimetic theories. His article Republic of Baklava as a Mockumentary Practice in the Context of Post-Mimesis appeared in the International Journal of Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Art (2025), and his chapter Theatre of the Real in the 21st Century is included in Cultural Policy Yearbook 2022–2023 – Resilience in the Ecosystem of Theatre (Peter Lang Publishing, 2025).

Şafak Ersözlü is also the co-founder and artistic director of Açık Stüdyo, an independent performing arts platform based in İzmir. Through Açık Stüdyo, he has developed numerous collaborative and site-specific projects with partners such as Tandem Turkey, Civil Society Exchange, Spaces of Culture, Bosch Alumni Network, CultureCIVIC, the British Council, and SAHA Association. He has also contributed to cultural initiatives including K2 Contemporary Art Center, STL Global, and Theatre Entropia.

His research and artistic practice center on interdisciplinary creation, site-responsive performance, and the social dynamics of collaboration in contemporary art. He is committed to fostering cross-cultural exchange and expanding the dialogue between artistic communities within and beyond Turkey.