The Biennial has hosted more than 1000 artists with more than two million visitors since 1987. The biennial concept therefore proposes a motive towards an effort of cooperative production; presenting a common denominator under many contemporary, local and global titles that artistic production deals with, and continuing to open that denominator up to discussion.
The Istanbul Biennial, its place within the global contemporary art world, the statements it makes, the effect it produces, the groundwork it lays out, and through the discussion it has been a part of, has always been discussed and will continue being discussed. Nevertheless the Istanbul Biennial, in its core and since the early days is also a story of the human and the city.
The Gulf Wars, 99 Istanbul Earthquake, failed Coup Attempt
The journey of the Istanbul Biennial since 1987 can surely tell us a lot about the evolution of contemporary art. It’s also very interesting that the Biennial’s course has been parallel to local events in Turkey as well as those on a global scale. The three year gap between the biennial’s second edition and its third in 1992 is a reflection of the effects of the First Gulf War in the region in 1991. The Gulf War was the first major global event that the biennial had been exposed to, and it has experienced unsettling events recenty. The attack on the Twin Towers back in 2001, the 1999 Istanbul earthquake, Gezi protests and a failed coup attempt all happened on the years of the biennial and only a couple of months ahead. The events that shook the political, economic, social, cultural climate of the country surely had an impact on the bianalle.
THE SHOW MUST GO ON
The Istanbul Biennial’s Artistic Director Bige Örer, while discussing the effects that these events have on the biennial, stresses the need to dissociate every situation while investigating it. In any case to make a joint statement on the matter, Örer states that, “despite all the crises that have occurred and the difficult times endured, we still have deep trust in and of art’s cooperative abilities and its power to calling upon different stories, worlds and languages.” Örer also expresses that this belief is far away from being dispensable, and on the contrary, is needed much more during these difficult times. One could easily say that the Bienalle continued operating throughout the years, and at times with mandatory changes in planning, with such a belief system.
And that might shed a glimpse of hope in itself.
THROUGH THE EYES OF THE VISITORS
Looking at the journey of he Biennial through the eyes of its visitors deserves an attentive read. In 1987 under Beral Madra’s general coordination, the formerly titled Istanbul International Contemporary Art Exhibitions opened with an exhibition titled “Contemporary Art in Traditional Spaces” with a total number of 10.000 visitors going in to record. Nowadays we’re talking about an international audience close to two million. It is obvious that this increase after 30 years developed gradually over the years. But there are certain years when these changes were witnessed in notable lengths. For example, the biennial that was visited by 14.000 people in 1992 reached 65.000 people in 1995. The not two, but three year obligatory gap between the two biennials must have had an effect on this increase.
THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL CURATOR
The 4th Istanbul Biennial in 1995 was held under the title “ORIENT-ATION – The Image of Art in a Paradoxical World” and was curated by Rene Block with the participation of 118 artists. This was the year when Block took his title in biennial history as its first international curator. The biennial is also regarded in numbers as the busiest one in 32 years in terms of artist participation. When looked at from such an angle, it seems highly probable that there’s a curatorial element within the increase of visitor counts. As director Bige Örer has shared; “At this biennial, instead of a way of understanding that leans upon national representation, it was decided that a single-curator model was to be embraced.” Rene Block developed on the idea of creating a meeting space for artists in Istanbul to exhibit their arguments and analyses; transforming Istanbul as a whole, as a place and as a concept, in to an artists studio. One of the old warehouse buildings in Karaköy was used as exhibition space for the first time. All of these offered a new biennial experience to visitors.
10.000 VISITORS
A similar situation occurred back in 2007. At the Biennial held under Hou Hanru’s curation, and again with a considerably busy artist participation of 96 artists in total, visitor counts neared 100.000 people. The tenth Istanbul Biennial that year was held under the title “Not Only Possible, But Also Necessary: Optimism in the Age of Global War”.
The Biennial venues consisted of some very exciting spots such as Antrepo No:3, Atatürk Cultural Center, Istanbul Textiles Traders’ Market, santralistanbul and Kadıköy Public Education Center. Bige Örer, on the effect of spatial and contextual construction reflected upon the viewer in this edition of the biennial, says that; “The 10th Istanbul Biennial brought back to discussion the promises of modernity from a critical standpoint.”
Atatürk Cultural Center under the theme titled “Burn it or not?”, “World Factory” at the Istanbul Textiles Traders’ Market, “Entre-polis” at Antrepo, the exhibits of independent artists’ initiatives at santralistanbul, and Kadıköy Public Education Center were all used as exhibition spaces for the biennial. For the first time, with the idea that Istanbul is a city that lives, Antrepo was open to visitors during nighttime two nights a week. The Dream House constructed inside Antrepo made references to the ‘dazibao’s, who voiced the criticisms of the public during the Cultural Revolution in China. Additionally, the Nightcomers project that went around to over thirty neighbourhoods, as well as the use of Atatürk Cultural Center and Istanbul Textiles Traders’ Market buildings as exhibition spaces while debates over their destruction were continuing, provoked wide spread attention from among the public.
Leaving a Lasting Mark on the City
Artists participating in the biennilas always open up thought provoking questions. A city which hosts a biennial always attracts more attention. The interest Istanbul has attracted throughout the years in this sense can be a significant indicator for the city and the biennial itself. For this reason, it might be meaningful to look in to the biennial’s urban appeal through the effect of the exhibition spaces used. Among international biennials, much like in Istanbul, there are many that are held each year in different spaces around various corners of the city, as well as those using fixed exhibition spaces, and although navigating through the city to certain limits with programmes, organizes its main structure around that one space. These two seperate spacial constructions requiring different processes just for the organisation process itself, surely offer distinct experiences in terms of content and exhibition. Thinking that the use of a variety of spaces as a part of the biennial would offer a more authentic and comprehensive interpretation and experience in terms of content and exhibition would not be wrong. Especially if we’re talking about a city like Istanbul that is challenging, but full of surprises.
LOCATION SCOUTING
Bige Örer defines searching for locations as a never-ending process. And in her words, states that one of the elements that make the Istanbul Biennial what it is, despite all its challenges, is that it has been able to find different, alternative spaces that accord to each exhibition, being able to work in these spaces and for artists to be able to produce spatially specific works, and for this process to go on being supported. This ongoing search surely helps the biennial’s list of spaces to grow, but a search for a space that is more fit for a specific conceptual framework can also come in to question. Much like when ARK Kültür joined the list of exhibition spaces at the 2017 biennial titled “A Good Neighbour” when Mahmoud Khaled, one of the participating artists, mentioned that he wanted to create a house museum when he came to Istanbul, Örer reminds us. The search for a space in its core can be moulded in to three categories; spaces searched for and found by the biennial team, those discovered through a search related to a curatorial and conceptual framework, and those added in accordance to artist projects. Örer highlights that within this process, along with the use of alternative spaces, it is also important for the city to be re-experienced.
With this understanding it becomes very exciting to look at the the biennials’ use of space, its previous locations and the marks it has left on the city. The Biennial’s earliest editions during the late 1980’s and early 90’s heavily made use of historical spaces such as the the Hagia Eirene Museum, Süleymaniye Mosque, Fershane, The Imperial Mint and the Basilica Cistern. In later years, the warehouses that hosted the biennial and as a result came to be associated with the event by the city’s residents, first entered the scene in 1995 during the fourth edition of the biennial, with Antrepo No. 1, and have, much like Örer has mentioned, developed an organic relationship with the event throughout the years. The former warehouse number 4 hosted the 8th Istanbul Biennial and a year later became Istanbul Modern’s place of residency, which can be considered an important milestone. At the 5th Istanbul Biennial in 1997 curated by Rosa Martinez under the title “On Life, Beauty, Translations and other Difficulties”, the use of Sirkeci and Haydarpaşa Train Stations, Maiden’s Tower, Atatürk Airport, Pera Palas Hotel, Karanfilköy / Akatlar, Taksim and Sultanahmet Squares added a new dimension to the spatial experience that the biennial had presented.
In later years, this experience, using places like the Maiden Tower, the Bosphorus Bridge, Tobacco Warehouse, the former Deniz Palas where IKSV is located today, Feriköy Greek School, Atatürk Cultural Center, Kadıköy Public Education Center and Istanbul Textiles Traders’ Market as exhibition spaces led to location being one of the most curiosity provoking components of the biennial. On the other hand, much like in previous examples, new locations were added among the wealth of the city’s artistic and cultural spaces. The Istanbul Textiles Traders’ Market gained new meaning by being a part of the Biennial. 5533 began working at the Istanbul Textiles Traders’ Market using it as an art space, and continues doing so today. Again, the Tobacco Warehouse, following its use as one of the exhibition spaces for the biennial, has been converted in to an arts space that continues to operate. The incorporation of old school buildings is also an important gain. Opening buildings like the Feriköy Greek School and Galata Greek Primary School to visitors at the biennials supported the conversion of these few set of schools no longer used in education, in to functioning public spaces that can be used within a variety of spheres. While the various locations used as exhibition spaces for the biennial present a spacial experience in and of themselves, the content of the works situated inside these spaces can also make the experience more memorable.
Taking a glance at the history of the biennial from this angle, one of the first space and exhibition pairings that come to mind is the exhibition at the Istanbul Textiles Traders’ Market curated by Hou Hanru. Another prominent one is the installation titled Untitled by artist Doris Salcedo, who is renowned for her public art installations and the issues they comment upon, exhibited at the 8th Istanbul Biennial in 2003 titled ‘Poetic Justice’. The work that examined immigration and matters of displacement in Istanbul was made up of a total number of 1550 wooden chairs found compressed beneath two buildings in Karaköy Yemeniciler Street, as well as from around Istanbul and its nearby regions. Among other space and exhibition experiences, another one with remarkable qualities is the fourteenth Istanbul Biennial in 2015 drafted by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev under the title “SALTWATER: A Theory of Thought Forms”. At the biennial that used over thirty exhibition spaces like Rumeli Feneri and Riva Beach, including as well shops, parking lots and hotel rooms at various locations, Argentinian artist Adrian Villar Rojas’s work titled “The Most Beautiful of All Mothers” made up of animal sculptures installed in the sea at Büyükada, as well as Trotsky’s house in the island were engraved in to peoples minds.
The Backstage
At every biennial, while many projects appearing in front of an audience become subjects for inspection, interpretation and questioning, others provoke curiosity as to ‘how’ they were actually made. The back stage is always very exciting. Have a look at the numbers: 1500 wooden chairs, worms feeding on grain, resins and sculptures weighing tonnes. The installation process of the exhibition deserves separate consideration to when the biennial actually meets visitors. The Biennial taking place in three different locations this year has Gamze Öztürk as technical coordinator, who addresses that that within the production of the artworks and the installation of exhibitions, they always have visitors’ experience and the artists’ sensibilities in mind. According to Gamze, the most important aspect of this process is being able to settle among them. It is impossible to consider the processes of production and installation independently from the exhibition spaces. She explains this relationship as well as the significance of exhibition spaces within this context by adding that, ‘While there are some locations bienal watchers have grown familiar to, there are also some that they discover through the biennial.’ The forceful strength of the potential of some of the works exhibited at these familiar locations offer an opportunity to experience that same location differently. This, for example, reminds me of Leander Schönweger’s work exhibited in the attic of the Galata Greek School during the 15th Istanbul Biennial. In other ways, the location also becomes a vehicle carrying both the constraints and the possibilities of installing the works and connecting them together. And just for this reason holds critical importance in terms of visitor experience. This whole process gains magnitude when people start visiting the exhibition. Öztürk defines this initial encounter between the visitor and the works as the completion of this whole process, ‘its like handing over something you meticulously protected and watched over to its rightful owner’.
What – Where – When – How – Why – Who
16th Istanbul Biennial
14 September – 10 November 2019
Locations
Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Istanbul Painting and Sculpture Museum, Pera Museum and Büyükada.
Curator
French writer and academic Nicolas Bourriaud
Theme
The Seventh Continent
The biennial takes the title, the Seventh Continent, from the name given to the gigantic pile of waste floating in the oceans among scientific circles, and aims to bring in to question the relationship between art and ecology through works that use anthropology and archeology as vehicles in investigating the natural or cultural waste created by humans.
Artist Participation
56 artists from 25 countries
Programme
The biennial taking place in three different locations around the city, along with free-of-charge exhibitions, is also integrating various meetings, talks and fim programmes with different perspectives to the theme of the Seventh Continent.
Publications
A guide prepared with the support of the Vehbi Koç Foundation and designed by Onagöre comprising of Ali Taptık and Okay Karadayılar, as well as a catalogue of the biennial, will be on sale at biennial locations.
Timeline
9 May, 2018
It was announced that French curator, writer and academic Nicolas Bourriaud was appointed as the curator of the 16th Istanbul Biennial.
11 December, 2019
The title of the 16th Istanbul Biennial was announced at a press conference held at Saint-Joseph Private French High School Istanbul. Curator Nicolas Bourriaud announced that the theme of the biennial was titled the Seventh Continent, and shared some clues on whats waiting the visitors.
30 April 2019
Biennial locations were announced.
14 June 2019
The exhibition locations of more than 50 artists from 26 countries participating in the Biennial and the works were announced.
21 June 2019
Details on the production process of some of the works in the Biennial were beginning to be shared.
6 August and 15 August 2019
It was decided that there were going to be changes in one of the biennials locations, and later it was announced that along with Pera Museum and Büyükada, Istanbul Painting and Sculpture Museum’s new building at Tophane was added to the list.
21 August 2019
Countdown
While the installation work rapidly continued, details regarding guided tours, catalogues, visiting days and times were shared to visitors.
