Cana Yilmaz is a multidisciplinary artist and educator based in Alabama, USA. Born and raised in Germany, she studied English and American Literature, Linguistics, and Pedagogy at the University of Stuttgart, where she earned her M.A. Her thesis, The Quest for Identity in African-American Literature in Comparison to Turkish-German Literature, became an early exploration of questions that continue to shape her work: identity, belonging and cultural memory.

After completing her studies, Yilmaz moved to New York City, where she interned in publishing at the German Book Office, the international branch of the Frankfurt Book Fair. During her time in New York, she also studied filmmaking and screenwriting at an independent film school with filmmaker and screenwriter Ela Thier.

Returning to Germany, she began exhibiting her creative work, including photography and painting, while also working with children and young people. In 2017, her photography of Istanbul was published in Benimi – My Istanbul, a collaborative book project exploring the city underlined with essays by different authors.

During the height of the Syrian refugee crisis, Yilmaz worked in a refugee camp in Stuttgart, Germany. The experience led her to create a short film reflecting on displacement, the realities faced by refugees, and what it means to find one’s place within an unfamiliar society.

Her work moves between literature, photography, film, visual art, and cultural storytelling, often returning to questions of identity, migration, belonging, and the spaces between cultures.

Yilmaz currently lives in Alabama, where she founded Niru Kollekt, a small brand centered on handcrafted jewelry made in collaboration with artisans in Istanbul. Alongside her creative and entrepreneurial work, she is developing new projects across writing, visual art, and film.