Istanbul Biennial
- Dates: September 17 – November 20.
- Title: Rather than being a great tree, laden with sweet, ripe fruit, this biennial seeks to learn from the birds’ flight, from the once teeming seas, from the earth’s slow chemistry of renewal and nourishment.
- Curators of the 17th Istanbul Biennial: Ute Meta Bauer, Amar Kanwar, David Teh
- Director: Bige Örer
- Preview days: September 13 – 16. Contact: ist.biennial@iksv.org to be added to the guest list.
- 10 % of discount at the shop or bookstore for CIMAM members.
About the Istanbul Biennial
The 17th Istanbul Biennial, organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) with the support of the 2007–2026 Biennial Sponsor Koç Holding, will take place between 17 September and 20 November 2022. Held in the midst of a pandemic and increasing social and environmental dysfunction, this edition of the biennial will be very different from its predecessors in its scale, its methods and its objectives.
As this human-induced health crisis lays bare profound divisions and unsustainable social and economic norms, why put together a biennial of contemporary art? This edition of the Istanbul Biennial is an effort to rethink the purposes and potential of such international platforms. In this time of uncertainty, the curatorial team (Ute Meta Bauer, Amar Kanwar and David Teh) sees an opportunity to recalibrate the priorities of a biennial, to reimagine its forms, the nature of participation, and the expectations of its publics. This edition will exceed the normal duration of biennials, starting before and ending long after the usual eight-week season. It will engage all the senses, and multi-disciplinary creation beyond the visual arts; a range of smaller, more intimate venues will welcome diverse local communities, while the broadest possible public will be addressed on the airwaves and online.
The curators state: 'As art organisations all around the world face urgent, existential questions – questions of survival and relevance, about how they operate, for whom, and to what ends – biennials are not immune. They must lead. Art can refresh the vocabularies of public discourse, it can open new pathways of thought at a time of acute and complex planetary crisis. We cannot miss the opportunity to rethink what art can offer, what it can actually do.'
You can find more information about the biennale on the webiste: