Istanbul Biennial Names Curator for Multipart Edition Beginning in 2025

*updated November 1, 2024.

It will be a fresh start for the Istanbul Biennial. With a new director in Kevser Güler, the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) announced today that the well-respected Beirut-based curator, and founder of the nonprofit art organization Ashkal Alwan, Christine Tohmé will oversee the 18th edition, slated to open September 20, 2025, and running through November 23.

With three components, the Biennial will take place over multiple years. For its  “first leg” in 2025, it will focus on the themes of “self preservation” and “futurities.” The Biennial announced an open call where artists can submit their portfolios through the IKSV website through December 15, 2024.

In the Biennial’s second phase throughout 2026, the Biennial will focus on establishing a “permanent educational structure” along with a quarterly programs with local art initiatives. The third chapter takes place from September 18 to November, 2027, with exhibitions, publications, performances, and other events. 

Tohmé explained that the three-part biennial explores ideas of time through its elongated format. “I have found working in the arts to be most transformative, not only in moments of formal presentation but, more importantly, during its production—in the creative process, everyday exchanges, openings, studio visits, and reading groups. Therefore, the 18th Istanbul Biennial should invest as much in the production process as in its presentation,” Tohmé explained in the announcement.

HG Masters is deputy editor at ArtAsiaPacific.