TURKEY

Few Days Left Until the 17th Istanbul Biennial

The 17th edition of the Istanbul Biennial organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) is starting on September 17th.
Tuna SAYLAĞ
Few Days Left Until the 17th Istanbul Biennial
Bread & Puppet Theater

Translation by Janet MITRANI

The 17th Istanbul Biennial organized by the IKSV will take place between September 17th and November 20th. This year the biennial, curated by Ute Meta BauerAmar Kanwar, and David Teh, reaching out from the traditional art venues, is spreading to dozens of various places including a bookstore, a hospital, a nursing home, a cafe, subway stations, and a special radio station. By the decision of the curators, this year the biennial, instead of focusing on one theme, will bring together people working in different geographies and disciplines and will become a meeting point that nurtures and strengthens the interaction among them.

Giant puppets on the streets of Istanbul

In the context of the biennial, the world-famous giant puppets of Bread and Puppet Theater will greet people in Istanbul with their street performances.

More than 500 people including artists, writers, architects, radio programmers, fishermen, activists, stand-up comedians, chefs, and participants from many other fields are contributing to the 17th Istanbul Biennial, working individually or collectively with local communities.

The biennial will tell stories from various geographies and time periods on many topics from gastronomy to ecology, from literature to food safety, from migrations to immigration, and marine life.

Biennial exhibitions in Beyoğlu, Kadiköy, and Fatih

In Beyoğlu, the cosmopolitan district of Istanbul separated from the old city with the Golden Horn, the biennial venues will include the Pera Museum, Performistanbul Live Art Research Space (PCSAA), the Central Greek High School for Girls which has been abandoned since 1999, SAHA Studio, Büyükdere35, and the Yaklaşim Tüneli (Approach Tunnel) Taksim which was one of the tunnels dug during the construction of the Taksim station on the M2 Yenikapi-Haciosman Line and now has been turned into an exhibition venue.

In Kadiköy the venues will include the Gashouse Museum and arthereistanbul in Yeldeğirmeni, an independent space for artistic creation, originally founded by Syrian artists.

Fatih is also among the districts expecting their visitors... Barin Han, which has been reopened as an independent art space two years ago, the Çinili Hammam, which will open for biennial visitors ahead of its reopening in 2023, and Küçük Mustafa Pasha Hammam, one of Istanbul's oldest Turkish baths, will be welcoming the biennial visitors in the historical peninsula. Also, the Zeytinburnu Medicinal Plants Garden, built on 14 acres of land, will also be hosting various performances.

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