The 3rd Istanbul Biennial Are We Human

Organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, The 3rd Istanbul Design Biennial “ARE WE HUMAN? : The Design of the Species: 2 seconds, 2 days, 200 years, 200,000 years” opens it’s doors to visitors on October 22. The participators include designers, architects, artists, historians, archeologists, choreographers, and scientists from 50 countries and will present over 70 projects hosted by the Galata Greek Primary School, Studio-X Istanbul, DEPO, Alt Art Space, and Istanbul Archeological Museums.

The Biennial’s participants from Turkey include Ali Kazma with his “Safe” project which includes shots from a seed vault in Norway, Atıf Akın with his “Mutant Space” project that focuses on nuclear spaces in Armenia’s Metsamor province, Bager Akbay with his “The Shephard” project that explores the subject of managing and curating with artificial intelligence, Ayhan Ayteş in collaboration with Jussi Parikka with their work “A Media Archeology of Ingenious Designs” which tells a story of modernity that is not eurocentric, Sevince Bayrak and Oral Göktaş with their inventory of Istanbul’s tombstones “The Visit,” Pattu Architecture with their project “Object of Daydreaming” which is concerned with how primitive tools evolved the nature of humanity. Along with these artist, there is Zeynep Çelik Alexander in collaboration with Vanessa Heddle and Elliott Sturtevant with their work “Observer Affect / Observer Effect” which combines the research on neurology and how design is interpreted, Orkan Telhan with his project “Microbial Design Studio: 30-day Simit Diet”, Neyran Turan and Mete Sönmez with “Matters Around Architecture,” and Aslı Serbest in collaboration with Mona Mahall with their project “Köçek Dance Floor” which merges a historical understanding of dance and humans.

Yabancı sanatçıların da güçlü katılımıyla zenginleşen bienalde bizim favorimiz ise ziyaretçilere kendi bedenlerinin gerçek zamanlı tasarımcıları olmaya olanak sunan “Soyutlar Kenti” çalışmasıyla William Forsythe!

Our favorite from the biennial that is also enriched by a strong participating group of international artists is the project that allows visitors to be their bodies’ own designers: “City of Abstracts” by William Forsythe!