{"id":70689,"date":"2017-08-19T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2017-08-18T21:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/art50.net\/15th-istanbul-biennial-2\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T00:13:37","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T21:13:37","slug":"15th-istanbul-biennial-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/art50.net\/en\/15th-istanbul-biennial-2\/","title":{"rendered":"15th Istanbul Biennial"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Notes from the 15th Istanbul Biennial press conference held on September 12, 2017:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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The 15th edition of the Istanbul Biennial will start on September 16, welcoming all art enthusiasts on a free entrance basis. Thanks to IKSV\u2019s funding, 30 of the 56 participating artists produced new works for the biennial that is also celebrating its 30th anniversary. Referring to the biennial as \u201ca liberal creative platform and a breathing space for artists and art enthusiasts alike\u201d, B\u00fclent Eczac\u0131ba\u015f\u0131, the President of IKSV, added that their efforts were directed towards \u201ccreating the ideal conditions so that intercultural dialogues can emerge and cultures can freely interact\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Speaking on behalf of Ko\u00e7 Holding, the biennial\u2019s main sponsor since 2007, the President \u00d6mer M. Ko\u00e7 emphasized the biennial\u2019s steady audience growth: \u201cin the years our sponsorship started, the biennial\u2019s audience was expressed in tens of thousands; but since 2013, also thanks to our growing support, it reached four hundred thousand\u201d. He continued that, as Ko\u00e7 Group, they considered arts and culture to be one of the most important elements of social development, and touching upon the biennial\u2019s theme, \u201cA Good Neighbor\u201d, he said: \u201cWe live in a world where borders become more and more questionable every day, and in difficult times marked by increased war and tension. What we currently need most is to listen more carefully to the language of art that takes its strength from culture and universal values\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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15th Istanbul Biennial press conference<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The curators Elmgreen and Dragset made important remarks on the biennial\u2019s theme as well. The duo emphasized that people\u2019s ways of living together were different from and much richer than the relations between the governments and politicians representing them. Referring to the example of Trump\u2019s wall project at the Mexican border, they added that both Turkey and the world at large were going through difficult times in terms of neighboring relations. Explaining that the artists who produced new works for the biennial visited Istanbul several times and reacted to its architectural and sociocultural texture, the curators observed that most people went to their childhood memories when asked about who the good neighbor was, where they found the ultimate peace and security. Consequently, the works that emerged tackled less macro-level subjects, focusing on the artists\u2019 personal life experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On the other hand, Zeyno Pek\u00fcnl\u00fc, the Coordinator of Public Programs, approached the theme from a more ecological point of view. She focused on the marine life in the seas surrounding Istanbul, its stray animals and trees. Pek\u00fcnl\u00fc made the exciting announcement that this year\u2019s program not only featured seminars but also events such as cooking sessions and music workshops that would allow the participants to interact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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15th Istanbul Biennial<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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The most anticipated art event of this fall is surely the 15th Istanbul Biennial curated by the famous artistic duo Elgreem & Dragset, taking place between September 16 and November 12 with the theme \u2018A Good Neighbour\u2019. Referred to by Newsweek as \u2018one of the top 5 exhibitions of 2017 worth travelling for\u2019 and by NY Observer as \u2018one of the top 10 global art events of 2017\u2019 the event is going to be free entrance thanks to Ko\u00e7 Holding\u2019s sponsorship.
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The Scandinavian curators Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset aim at studying how people with different identities and lifestyles approach belongingness and privacy departing from concepts of a good neighbour and home, with a particular emphasis on women and feminism. The international outdoor campaign that the biennial\u2019s graphic designer Rupert Smyth realized in collaboration with the artists is also worthy of attention. The artworks exhibited on the billboards of cultural institutions from several countries in combination with 40 different questions on what a good neighbour is, examine the transformation the concepts of home and neighborhood went through all around the world. The biennial\u2019s consulting committee is composed of Adriano Pedrosa, one of the event\u2019s former curators, Curator Ba\u015fak \u015eenova, Artist \u0130nci Eviner, Whitechapel Gallery Director Iwona Blazwick and Curator Ute Meta Bauer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The biennial extends to 6 different venues, namely Istanbul Modern, Pera Museum, Galata Greek Primary School, Ark K\u00fclt\u00fcr, K\u00fc\u00e7\u00fck Mustafa Pa\u015fa Hamam and Artist\u2019s Collective Studio (an artist studio rearranged for the event). The participant list with 55 artists from 32 countries is equally exciting. The participants from Turkey show great variety: a master like Cande\u011fer Furtun; the internationally renowned artists Bur\u00e7ak Bing\u00f6l, Volkan Arslan and Ali Tapt\u0131k; the young and emerging G\u00f6zde \u0130lkin and Alper Ayd\u0131n; dancer and performer Tu\u011f\u00e7e Tuna; Yo\u011funluk artist collective; and Erkan \u00d6zgen and Bilal Y\u0131lmaz, artists based in Turkey\u2019s more peripheral locations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Cande\u011fer<\/a>
Cande\u011fer Furtun, Suskunlar, 1987. Foto\u011fraf: Kikas World<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\"Erkan<\/a>
Erkan \u00d6zgen, First Untitled, 2012.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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International highlights include Olaf Metzel with his sculptures and installations on public space; Monica Bonvicini with her multidimensional works on surveillance, power relations and gender, also known with her stairs in chains at Istanbul Modern and considered one of the artists with the best career performance of the last two decades; Louise Bourgeois, who became an icon in feminist art history with her sculpture, Mother; Berlinde De Bruyckere with her sculptures on human body, life and pain; Adel Abdessemed, questioning the notions of violence, terror and state with happenings around daily objects; and Xiao Yu, one of the rising stars of contemporary art in Asia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Adel<\/a>
Adel Abdessemed, One Life One Love One God, 2008. Foto\u011fraf David Zwirner Gallery.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\"Xiao<\/a>
Xiao Yu, Cement Floor sergisinden. Foto\u011fraf: MutualArt.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The public program under Zeyno Pek\u00fcnl\u00fc\u2019s coordination will offer the art enthusiasts an opportunity to participate to talks and workshops on the biennial\u2019s common theme.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Notes from the 15th Istanbul Biennial press conference held on September 12, 2017: The 15th edition of the Istanbul Biennial will start on September 16, welcoming all art enthusiasts on a free entrance basis. Thanks to IKSV\u2019s funding, 30 of the 56 participating artists produced new works for the biennial that is also celebrating its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1456,"featured_media":70688,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4516],"tags":[1540,1541],"class_list":["post-70689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fuarlar-bienaller","tag-15-istanbul-bienali","tag-istanbul-bienali"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/art50.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70689","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=70689"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/art50.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70689\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70736,"href":"https:\/\/art50.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70689\/revisions\/70736"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/art50.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/art50.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/art50.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/art50.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}