The Biennial Mood In İstanbul!

08/09/2022

Aspen

The image is taken from artdogistanbul.com

This week's blog post is online with an event that suits autumn and most of all İSTANBUL!

More than an art event that has been going on for 35 years, the İstanbul Biennial will be held for the 17th time on September 17 in 2022, and will bring art lovers together again. The biennial’s first one took place in 1987 under the general coordination of Beral MADRA, and has been brought to life by many national and international curators until today. The biennial could not occur in 2021 due to the global epidemic 2019. This year it will be held in a different way than usual and will bring together participants from other parts of the world.

1987 1st İstanbul Biennial Poster / The image is taken from bienal.iksv.org

İstanbul Biennial’s History

The foundations of the İstanbul Biennial the biggest art event in Istanbul, were laid in 1973. İstanbul Foundation For Culture And Arts, which was founded by Eczacıbaşı Holding decided to exhibit the plastic artworks realized within the scope of the festival in a private way before the biennial and started this biennial process. As a result of the decision to present it privately, the first biennial under the coordination of Beral MADRA was held in 1987. The desired to be explained theme of intense thought to be explained is gathered under the title of "Contemporary Art in Traditional Buildings".

The biennial continues in the company of leading curators from many parts of the world biyearly. The biennial keeps its continuity and creativity at the summit level. The biennial is more than just a platform where the artist exhibits his work such as it mediates a dialogue between artists, arts, visitors, and the cities. For this purpose, artists come together from different cultures every two years to the meeting point of visual arts and history, İstanbul.

2003, Public Works of Doris SALCEDO / The image is taken from art21.org

Did You Know the Story of Doris SALCEDO's Chairs?

Doris SALCEDO is originally a Colombian sculptor and most of her works are based on public works. The artist, who took part in the 8th Istanbul Biennial in 2003, had a place in mind with her installation Untitled. Her work was carried out in the gap between two buildings on Yemeniciler Street in Karaköy, where many of the houses are abandoned. She created the work by placing 1550 wooden chairs between two buildings, and a work that explores the migration and displacement phenomena of İstanbul. While the artist was exploring İstanbul, the fact that a central area like Karaköy was a region full of ruins impressed her. The evacuation of houses where Jews and Greeks once lived affected the formation of works.

Bread and Puppet Theater to Take Place at the 17th Istanbul Biennial / The image is taken from biennial.iksv.org

The biennial takes the pulse of contemporary art dynamics with its interactive structure, which will be held for the 17th time. The visitors, the artists, the critics, and the curators participating in the event establish a multi-layered unity and enable many different cultural riches to form a strong bond. The İstanbul Biennial is an event that arouses interest around the world and enables artists to establish a dialogue with their works between visitors with an international understanding rather than a reflection of the local artistic understanding. In this context, while bringing visitors and minds together, adds new ones to its art accumulation that it has gained for many years. The İstanbul Biennial is a multinational artistic production event open to everyone and reminds us of the importance of art. It continues to host many artistic works, keeping many collective memories alive in minds for 35 years.

17th İstanbul Biennial Exhibition Spaces / The image is taken from bienal.iksv.org

17th Istanbul Biennial

The biennial will take place in 12 different venues this year and the curators are: Ute Meta BAUER, a professor at Nanyang Technological University, Golden Gate Award-winning artist Amar KANWAR, and independent curator David TEH. The 17th İstanbul Biennial aims to touch, convey and explain that thought is a different way of doing, creating, and showing. With this year's biennial, we will see how different groups think and interact together.

Curators of the 17th Istanbul Biennial: Ute Meta BAUER, Amar KANWAR, and David TEH (from left to right)

The biennial, which will take place in İstanbul is a multi-layered dynamic city that has hosted many nations, religions, empires, and communities has made it a challenging yet enjoyable project for the curators. Curators, who could not come together physically for two years, had to hold their meetings via Zoom due to the pandemic. However, the fact that they will be working in a dynamic and historical city made them more strongly attached to the project. According to the curators, the biennial started before 17 September and is expected to continue after 20 November. In the statement at the end of the interview broadcast on YouTube, everything was clearly stated:

‘’Rather than a great tree, laden with sweet, ripe fruit, this biennial seeks to learn from the birds’ flight, form the once teeming seas, form the earth’s slow chemistry of renewal and nourishment. There may be no great gathering, no orchestrated coming together, but they will multiply and diverge, at different paces, crossing here and there but with no noisy culmination, no final knot. Let this biennial be compost. It may begin before it is to begin and continue well after it is over.’’

References:

youtube.com

bienal.iksv.org

sanatblog.com