Curators Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset say: “You neighbor may have a very different lifestyle than your own; but we hope that you’re not dealing with this by building fences around yourself based on your fear of the “other” as many politicians in the world have recently been doing. The artists participating the 15th Istanbul Biennial focus on home, neighborhood and collective life through various perspectives. While some of the works inspect how the situation and conditions of our home life has changed and the transformation our neighborhood has experienced, others investigate how we’ve overcome current geopolitical problems on a micro scale. Shaped by the personal of analytical expressions of the guests artists, the biennial creates spaces where hope tangles with dreams, sorrow with rage, and past with present.”
In addition to veteran biennial venues such as Istanbul Modern, Galata Greek Primary School, Pera Museum and Küçük Mustafa Paşa Bathhouse, the biennial will also be hosted by ARK Kültür in Cihangir and Yoğunluk Artists’ Workshop in Asmalımescit. The biennial will display new works by 30 artists.
Welcoming 55 artists from 32 countries, the biennial’s artist and venue list is as follows:
Galata Greek Primary School
Heba Y. Amin
Born in Cairo, based in Berlin
Mark Dion
Born in New Bedford, Massachusetts; based in New York
Jonah Freeman & Justin Lowe
Born in Santa Fe, New Mexico and Dayton, Ohio; based in New York
Kasia Fudakowski
Born in London, based in Berlin
Pedro Gómez-Egaña
Born in Bucaramanga, based in Bergen and Copenhagen
Lungiswa Gqunta
Born in Port Elizabeth, based in Cape Town
Andrea Joyce Heimer
Born in Great Falls, Montana; based in Ferndale, Washington
Morag Keil & Georgie Nettell
Born in Edinburgh and Bedford, based in London
Olaf Metzel
Born in Berlin, based in Munich
Mahmoud Obaidi
Born in Baghdad, based in Burlington, Ontario
Henrik Olesen
Born in Esbjerg, based in Berlin
Erkan Özgen
Born in Mardin, based in Diyarbakır
Leander Schönweger
Born in Merano, based in Vienna
Dan Stockholm
Born in Thisted, based in Copenhagen
Ali Taptık
Born and based in Istanbul
Bilal Yılmaz
Born in Manisa, based in Istanbul
Istanbul Modern
Volkan Aslan
Born in Ankara, based in Istanbul
Alper Aydın
Born in Ordu; based in Ordu, Ankara, Konya and Istanbul
Monica Bonvicini
Born in Venice, based in Berlin
Louise Bourgeois
Born in Paris, died in New York
Latifa Echakhch
Born in El Khnansa, based in Martigny
Candeğer Furtun
Born and based in Istanbul
Kim Heecheon
Born and based in Seoul
Mirak Jamal
Born in Tehran, based in Berlin
Fernando Lanhas
Born and died in Porto
Victor Leguy
Born and based in São Paulo
Klara Lidén
Born in Stockholm, based in Berlin
Mahmoud Obaidi
Born in Baghdad; based in Burlington, Ontario
Lydia Ourahmane
Born in Saida, based in Oran and London
Rayyane Tabet
Born in Ashquot, based in Beirut
Young-Jun Tak
Born in Seoul, based in Berlin
Kaari Upson
Born in San Bernardino, California; based in Los Angeles, California
Kemang Wa Lehulere
Born and based in Cape Town
Yonamine
Born in Luanda, based in Harare
Xiao Yu
Born in Inner Mongolia, based in Beijing
ARK Kültür
Mahmoud Khaled
Born in Alexandria, based in Trondheim
Pera Museum
Adel Abdessemed
Born in Constantine, based in Los Angeles, California
Njideka Akunyili Crosby
Born in Enugu, based in Los Angeles, California
Alejandro Almanza Pereda
Born in Mexico, based in Guadalajara
Berlinde De Bruyckere
Born and based in Ghent
Vajiko Chachkhiani
Born in Tbilisi, based in Berlin
Gözde İlkin
Born and based in Istanbul
Liliana Maresca
Born and died in Buenos Aires
Lee Miller
Born in Poughkeepsie, New York; based in Chiddingly, East Sussex
Aude Pariset
Born in Versailles, based in Berlin
Sim Chi Yin
Born in Singapore, based in Beijing
Dayanita Singh
Born and based in New Delhi
Tatiana Trouvé
Born in Cosenza, based in Paris
Tsang Kin-Wah
Born in Shantou, based in Hong Kong
Andra Ursuta
Born in Salonta, based in New York
Fred Wilson
Born and based in New York
Yoğunluk Workshop
Yoğunluk
Founded and based in Istanbul
Küçük Mustafa Paşa Bathhouse
Monica Bonvicini
Born in Venice, based in Berlin
Stephen G. Rhodes
Born in Houston, Texas; based in Berlin
Tuğçe Tuna
Born in Mons, based in Istanbul
Public
Burçak Bingöl
Born in Giresun, based in Istanbul
Lukas Wassmann
Born in Zurich, based in Berlin