14th Istanbul Biennial: “Saltwater: A Theory of Thought Forms”

The 14th edition of the Istanbul Biennial marks a change of pace, both for the long-running biennial itself, and for visitors, who will be traveling from the top of the Bosporus all the way to the Princes’ Islands in the Sea of Marmara in order to experience more than 1,500 artworks by 80-plus participants. Having lost its former main venues in the Antrepo customs warehouse complex, the Biennial is spread throughout the Beyoğlu area—including projects at art institutions Istanbul Modern, Salt Galata and Arter—as well as in smaller locations in the district that attest to the city’s rich history of European communities, such as the Galata Greek School and the cistern in the Adahan building, constructed by the Camondo family, whose patriarch was the prime banker of the Ottoman Empire. Eventually the treasure-hunt leads visitors to sites much further afield, including the Hrant Dink Foundation’s spaces in the Şişli neighborhood (north of Beyoğlu), a lighthouse on the Black Sea at the very top of the Bosporus, and to the house on the largest of the Princes’ Islands where Soviet politician Leon Trotsky (1879–1940) spent four years in exile. Organizers İKSV are advising visitors to allocate three full days in order to see the entire Biennial. There are also “three fictional venues that have no legal public access, to be imagined only.”

• Turkey