The 17th Istanbul Biennial, organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) and supported by Koç Holding, the Biennial Sponsor since 2007, opens to the public on Saturday, 17 September 2022 and can be visited free of charge until 20 November 2022.
Curated by Ute Meta Bauer, Amar Kanwar and David Teh, this edition brings together people and processes in a gathering of more than 50 projects, each the fruit of long-term research and collaboration. Embracing various encounters in a myriad of forms, from a musical composition for water buffalos and giant puppet shows across the city, to a dumpling food festival, research projects on the archives of feminist movements, dialogues with birds, and a poetry channel inviting 15 poets to write a new poem every month for a year, this Biennial is above all an invitation to spend time together, thinking, talking, reading, viewing and listening in public, an invitation to ask questions, and question answers.
With its focus on process and participation, the 17th Istanbul Biennial involves over 500 artists, thinkers, writers, poets, puppeteers, researchers, environmentalists, architects, radio hosts, fishermen, buffalo herders, activists, stand-up comedians, conductors, ethnomusicologists, ornithologists and many others, have contributed to the biennial individually or through collective work with local communities across Istanbul and other parts of Turkey.
Acting as a host across the city, the 17th Istanbul Biennial spans 12 exhibition venues that are diverse in nature in the Zeytinburnu, Kadıköy, Fatih and Beyoğlu districts, as well as over 50 bookstores, second-hand booksellers, hospitals, cafes, metro stops, disseminating the ideas around which its projects are shaped. For global audiences, Radyo Bienal has been engaging Turkish-speaking communities with a 25-episode weekly programme hosted by Açık Radyo (Open Radio), an independent and egalitarian terrestrial radio channel, as well as featuring an English podcast series that can be listened to on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts, with new episodes, added every Tuesday.
Contributors include:
Zeytinburnu Medicinal Plants Garden – Laura Anderson Barbata, Mariah Lookman
Müze Gazhane (Gashouse Museum) – Arazi Assembly & Topological Atlas, Atıf Akın, Adlaw Sang Mananagat Fisherfolks’ Day (Martha Atienza and GoodLAND Association), Laura Anderson Barbata, Pustaka Bergerak, Merve Elveren & Çağla Özbek, Arahmaiani Feisal, Ângela Ferreira, INLAND, INTERPRT, Oda Projesi, Pratchaya Phinthong with Chairat Polmuk, Lieko Shiga, Ahmet Öğüt & The Silent University Team (Yelta Köm, Pelin Tan, Amal Jibril, Suha Nabhan), Orkan Telhan, Vocal Cognitive Territory Part of the Collaborative Project Devenir Universidad, Yee I-lann in collaboration with Omadal Island Bajau and Sama DiLaut (Sulu and Celebes Seas) weavers: CT Aturdaya, Darwisa Binti Omar, Kinnuhong Binti Gundasali, Koddil Binti Tamunang, Noraidah Binti Jabarah, Roziah Binti Jalalid, Sanah Binti Belasani and filmmaker Andy Chia Chee Shiong
arthereistanbul – Lida Abdul, Footsteps
Barın Han – Açık Radyo, John Bell, Bread and Puppet Theater (Clare Dolan, John Bell, Adam Cook, and Feride Eralp with contributions by Cengiz Özek), Crip Magazine by Eva Egermann, Danarto dkk, Dumpling Post, Merve Elveren & Çağla Özbek, Green Papaya Art Projects, KONDA Research and Consultancy, Christian Nyampeta, Oda Projesi, Pathshala South Asian Media Institute, Poetry Channel Pratchaya Phinthong with Chairat Polmuk, Catarina Simão, Yehwan Song, Nakamura Yuta
The Çinili Hamam – Taloi Havini, Renato Leotta
Küçük Mustafa Paşa Hammam – Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook, Tarek Atoui, Crip Magazine by Eva Egermann, Dumpling Post, Newell Harry, Oda Projesi, Poetry Channel, Lieko Shiga, Yehwan Song
Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation Pera Museum – Lida Abdul, Irwan Ahmett and Tita Salina, Merve Elveren & Çağla Özbek, Lamia Joreige, Gülsün Karamustafa, KONDA Research and Consultancy, Charles Lim Yi Yong and Simryn Gill, Angela Melitopoulos, Alice Miceli, Nepal Picture Library, Lieko Shiga, Kerstin Schroedinger, Sim Chi Yin, Sriwhana Spong
Büyükdere35 – Cooking Sections
Central Greek High School for Girls – Disobedience Archive – Ders Bitti (Marco Scotini, Can Altay)
SAHA Studio – Atıf Akın, Ahmet Öğüt & The Silent University Team (Yelta Köm, Pelin Tan, Amal Jibril, Suha Nabhan), Yehwan Song
Metro İstanbul Yaklaşım Tüneli Taksim – Carlos Casas
Performistanbul Live Art Research Space (PCSAA) – Merve Elveren & Çağla Özbek, Evrim Kavcar & Elif Öner
atelier d’architecture autogérée also participates in the biennial in partnership with Pelin Tan, taking a collaborative and dialogical form by convening a two-day workshop.
The biennial also presents a film programme which includes contributions by filmmakers Carlos Casas, Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel, From Scratch, Yervant Gianikian and Angela Ricci Lucchi, Anamika Haksar, Heidrun Holzfeind, Les McLaren and Annie Stiven, Payal Kapadia, Ernst Karel and Veronika Kusumaryati, Abbas Kiarostami, Migrant Ecologies Projects, Dennis O’Rourke, Pere Portabella, Lisa Rave, Riar Rizaldi, Marta Rodriguez and Jorge Silva, Beatriz Santiago Muñoz, Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam, Sriwhana Spong, Hu Tai-li, Nguyễn Trinh Thi, Chikako Yamashiro.
Temporary events take place across Istanbul, a film programme takes places at various venues as well as conferences and workshops happen throughout the duration of the biennial. Further information about these programmes can be found on: https://bienal.iksv.org/en/17th-istanbul-biennial/public-learning-programmes
Publications
Within the scope of the biennial, a guide and a catalogue are published in cooperation with Yapı Kredi Publications and with the contributions of the Vehbi Koç Foundation. The guidebook includes detailed information and photos of all biennial projects. The book Afterthoughts includes articles that the curators brought together to convey their thoughts and dreams about the biennial to the audience in a more comprehensive way. The poetry book published within the scope of the biennial’s Poetry Chanel project contains new poems from fifteen poets participating in the program under the editorship of Süreyyya Evren and Erdem İlgi Akter. The book, which includes selections from two great poets Faiz Ahmad Faiz and Nâzım Hikmet, also includes testimonies about the project.
All of these publications can be purchased from the biennial venues Pera Museum, Barın Han and Müze Gazhane.
Visitor Information
The 17th Istanbul Biennial can be visited free of charge between 17 September and 20 November 2022 at all venues. The Biennial is open between 10.00 and 18.00 every day except Mondays, with the exception of 19 September, the Monday of the opening week. All the Biennial venues will be open on the national holiday on 29 October.
Zeytinburnu Medicinal Plants Garden is open between 09.00 and 16.00.
Pera Museum is open until 19.00 on weekdays and Saturdays, and 22.00 on Fridays. The Museum opens at 12.00 and closes at 18.00 on Sundays.
SAHA Studio can be visited on Wednesdays and Saturdays between 12.00 and 19.00.
Information on guided tours, children’s programme and the full list and visiting hours of the small and intimate venues that host the poems written under the scope of the Poetry Channel project are available on: https://bienal.iksv.org/en.
