The Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), which organises the Istanbul Biennial, has announced that the 18th edition of the biennial, scheduled to open in 14 September 2024, will now take place in 2025 and involve a new preparatory process.
The announcement follows intense criticism of İKSV’s decision-making process after the rejection of Defne Ayas as curator of the 2024 biennial in favour of Iwona Blazwick. Blazwick was part of the advisory board meant to select a curator for the biennial, and the opacity of the process was met with widespread disappointment and pushback. Since the announcement, there was an open letter drawn by artists ‘demanding better Istanbul biennials’ and the withdrawal of several artists from the biennial. Then the director of the Istanbul Biennial Bige Örer stepped down, followed days later by the appointment of a new director, Kevser Güler. Throughout this turmoil, İKSV held its line that preparations for the 18th Istanbul Biennial continue as planned.
Earlier this week, ArtReview published a report from Istanbul written by novelist Kaya Genç, detailing six months of upheaval in Turkey’s artistic capital and reporting on a forum held on 7 January titled ‘From Here to Where? The Case of the 18th Istanbul Biennial’, where over 100 artists, curators and other cultural workers came together to discuss their concerns about local art institutions and discuss strategies of resistance and possible solutions. İKSV acknowledges this in its announcement: ‘in response to criticism of its decision-making procedures, [İKSV] reviewed its governance mechanisms with the goal of making them more participatory. Our goal, as always, was to ensure that the Istanbul Biennial provided a platform for artistic expression, dialogue and interaction. However, we have witnessed the emergence of undesired divisions in art circles that are adversely affecting artists who had already agreed or might have agreed to participate in the biennial as well as collaborations and partnerships. Unfortunately, this situation has made it impossible to hold the Istanbul Biennial as planned.’
