{"id":70033,"date":"2015-09-17T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2015-09-16T21:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/art50.net\/impressions-from-the-14th-istanbul-biennial-vol-1-istanbul-modern-galata-greek-school-depo-2\/"},"modified":"2025-09-15T16:05:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T13:05:18","slug":"impressions-from-the-14th-istanbul-biennial-vol-1-istanbul-modern-galata-greek-school-depo-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/art50.net\/en\/impressions-from-the-14th-istanbul-biennial-vol-1-istanbul-modern-galata-greek-school-depo-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Impressions from the 14th Istanbul Biennial, Vol. 1: \u0130stanbul Modern, Galata Greek School, DEPO"},"content":{"rendered":"

Impressions from the 14th Istanbul Biennial, Vol. 1: \u0130stanbul Modern, Galata Greek School, DEPO<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Istanbul Biennial exhibition at Istanbul Modern begins with the \u201cCanal\u201d Project and illustrates the origins of the biennial\u2019s conceptual framework; here it is possible to encounter works by artists including\u00a0Tacita Dean<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Song-Ming Ang<\/strong>\u00a0as well as documents from various scientific studies. In the corridor leading to the main gallery area,\u00a0Prophets<\/em>\u00a0by\u00a0Richard Ibghy and Marilou Lemmens<\/strong>\u00a0lies like a monument, composed of graphic-sculpture works made of simple, every day materials and representing economic data. Then\u00a0Pillars<\/em>,\u00a0Marwan Rechmaoui<\/strong>\u2019s sculpture series appear before our eyes, dramatically revealing the atmosphere of rapid urbanization and destruction in the Middle East. On the other hand,\u00a0Georgia Sagri<\/strong>\u2019s powerful work\u00a0My First Science Fiction Book, Religion<\/em>\u00a0questions the Notion of religious beliefs through a 3D video performance in which individuals from different religious backgrounds pray together.<\/p>\n

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Georgia Sagri (sol). Michelangelo Pistoletto (sa\u011f). \u0130stanbul Modern. Photo: \u0130. Ye\u011fins\u00fc<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Venus of the Rags\u00a0<\/em>(1967), one of the most impressive works in the main gallery area belongs to\u00a0Michelangelo Pistoletto<\/strong>, one of the leading figures of Arte Povera. The curator often tackles the issues of \u201968 student movements and, as part of an artistic movement aiming at combining the dynamism of everyday life with high art, this work has a similar reference. Another great artwork is a multi-channel video installation by the Australian artist\u00a0Vernon Ah Kee<\/strong>\u00a0titled\u00a0Tall Man<\/em>, narrating interracial tensions and the resulting Palm Island riots. The room containing the Yirrkala drawings made of natural pigments on barks, again from Australia, is one of the biennial\u2019s must-see areas. It is also gratifying to discover that the curator\u2019s selection includes some of the most important names from Turkish art history such as\u00a0Bedri Rahmi Ey\u00fcbo\u011flu<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Fahrelnisa Zeid<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Andrew Yang, Galata Rum Okulu. Photo: \u0130. Ye\u011fins\u00fc<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The works in the Galata Greek School focus on timelessness, labor and the cultural memory of this region, thus turning into an archaeological site.\u00a0The Salt Traders<\/em>\u00a0by\u00a0Anna Boghiguian<\/strong>\u00a0questions the present through the remains of a lost ship that reemerges in the future. While\u00a0Neochronophobiq<\/em>,\u00a0Emre H\u00fcner<\/strong>\u2019s installation composed of sculpture and multi-channel video presents a poetic narrative about our fear of time,\u00a0The Flesh Is Yours, The Bones Are Ours<\/em>\u00a0by\u00a0Michael Rakowitz<\/strong>\u00a0extraordinarily elaborates on the themes of crafts, memory and cultural heritage.\u00a0Andrew Yang<\/strong>\u2019s\u00a0IO-OX: A Dialogue concerning Two World Systems<\/em>\u00a0invading the school\u2019s attic is perhaps the most interesting work at this venue; the artist identifies a connection between the mythology of the Bosphorus and astronomy, inviting the viewer to produce sounds that will propagate in space, into infinity.<\/p>\n

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\"Cardiff&Miller\"<\/a>
Janet Cardiff-George Bures Miller, Vault Karak\u00f6y. Photo: inenart.eu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

DEPO is yet another biennial stop to be seen.\u00a0The Silence of Ani<\/em>\u00a0by\u00a0Francis Al\u00ffs<\/strong>, one of the leading names in contemporary art history, takes the viewer to a journey into the remains of the city of Ani situated near the Armenian border, blowing new life into the once illustrous city with his call. On the other hand, at the lower floor of Vault Karak\u00f6y the House hotel a very interesting surprise is awaiting the biennial visitors. Once you enter a gloomy room and press a red button, the show suddenly begins: the\u00a0Sad Waltz and the Dancer Who Couldn\u2019t Dance<\/em>, the robotic installation by\u00a0Janet Cardiff & George Bures<\/strong>\u00a0Miller fills us with a deep nostalgia for a nameless past.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Impressions from the 14th Istanbul Biennial, Vol. 1: \u0130stanbul Modern, Galata Greek School, DEPO The Istanbul Biennial exhibition at Istanbul Modern begins with the \u201cCanal\u201d Project and illustrates the origins of the biennial\u2019s conceptual framework; here it is possible to encounter works by artists including\u00a0Tacita Dean\u00a0and\u00a0Song-Ming Ang\u00a0as well as documents from various scientific studies. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1456,"featured_media":35777,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4516],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fuarlar-bienaller"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/art50.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/art50.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/art50.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/art50.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1456"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/art50.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70033"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/art50.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70033\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70035,"href":"https:\/\/art50.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70033\/revisions\/70035"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/art50.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/art50.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/art50.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/art50.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}