Merve İlken was born in 1989 in İstanbul. She started the art of Traditional Turkish Shadow Play with the help of her instructor Suat Veral. She participated in many projects that are conducted by Suat Veral and she attended various domestic and foreign organizations, private events, culture festivals, workshops, and seminars. She had been into Qatar (Doha), Romania (Constanta), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), Bosnia and Herzegovina (Mostar, Konjic, Banja Luka), Austria (Vienna), South Korea (Seoul), Croatia (Zagreb), Italy (Torino).