İstanbul Biennial Director Bige Örer has decided to step down from her duties at IKSV as of 15 January 2024.
A written statement from IKSV said Örer has decided to step down to continue her work on different projects.
Earlier this year, Istanbul Biennial’s advisory panel problems marked its sign to the art scene.
In January, the Istanbul Biennial advisory board met to review four shortlisted curators. One of the candidates was Defne Ayas, a well-known curator who has organized exhibitions such as the Gwangju Biennial in South Korea in 2021 with Natasha Ginwala, the Moscow Biennale in Russia in 2015, and the Baltic Triennial in Lithuania in 2012. Ayas was the preferred choice for most of the advisory panel, which included Selen Ansen, a curator based in Istanbul and curator at Arter Contemporary Art space in Istanbul, Agustín Pérez Rubio, an independent curator based in Spain, Iwona Blazwick, and Yuko Hasegawa, the director of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, as well as Turkish-Armenian artist Sarkis, who resides in Paris. However, IKSV decided to work with Iwona Blazwick instead, leading to the resignation of three advisory panel members. The controversy arose when Turkish curators raised doubts about the selection of Iwona Blazwick as the curator for the upcoming Istanbul Biennial.
They were puzzled about the criteria for her selection, considering she was already a member of the biennial’s advisory board.
The news that Ayas had been passed up for the curatorial role was met with dismay and anger by Turkish and international cultural figures, who criticized the opaque decision-making process of the IKSV as well as the conflict of interest of Blazwick’s selection.
Another problem that arose from IKSV was the Venice Biennial curatorship. Esra Sarıgedik Öktem has resigned as the curator of Turkey’s national pavilion at next year’s Venice Biennale.
Sarıgedik Öktem said her departure comes in solidarity with her ‘dear friend and colleague’ Defne Ayas.
Sarıgedik Öktem runs the gallery BüroSarıgedik in Istanbul, which represents Gülsün Karamustafa, the artist selected for the Turkish Pavilion at the upcoming Venice Biennale. The curator noted that the gallery had taken steps “to avoid any conflict of interest,” but citing the “deeply distressing” rejection of Ayas and the appointment of Blazwick by the Istanbul Biennial, Öktem said the news led her to reconsider her decision. The curator declined to comment further.
