The 15th Istanbul Biennial officially opens its doors to the art world on September 16, 2017 under the theme "a good neighbour". Organized by The Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV), the biennial has announced the participating artists for this year’s edition welcoming 55 artists from 32 countries  -  their works will be addressing different notions of home, belonging and neighbourhood.

Curated by Danish and Norwegian artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset, the 15th edition of the Istanbul Biennial will be held between September 16 – November 12, 2017 and staged in six neighbouring venues at the heart of Istanbul: Istanbul Modern, Galata Greek Primary School, Ark Kültür, Pera Museum, Yoğunluk Atelier, and Küçük Mustafa Paşa Hammam.

Curators Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset. Image © Elmar Vestner  

Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset have been working together since 1995 and their Berlin-based practice - spanning many genres - included installation, sculpture, performance, and theatre. Their work has been included in the Istanbul (2013, 2011, 2001), Liverpool (2012), Singapore (2011), Moscow (2011, 2007), Venice (2009, 2003), Gwangju (2006, 2002), São Paulo (2002), and Berlin (1998) biennials. 

The artists were shortlisted for the Hugo Boss Prize, Guggenheim Museum, New York in 2000 and won the Preis der Nationalgalerie, Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin in 2002. In 2012, Elmgreen & Dragset were selected for London’s Fourth Plinth Commission in Trafalgar Square. They were awarded honorary doctorates at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in 2015. 

Alejandro Almanza Pereda's work at Pera Museum. Image courtesy of IKSV

"Your neighbour might be someone who lives quite a different life from yours. And hopefully you, unlike many politicians lately, are not the one who chooses to deal with your fear of otherness by fencing yourself off. The artists in the 15th Istanbul Biennial raise questions about ideas of home, neighbourhood, belonging and co-existence from multiple perspectives," said Elmgreen & Dragset, curators of the 15th Istanbul Biennial. 

"Some of the artworks examine how our domestic living conditions and modes have changed and how our neighbourhoods have transformed, while others focus on how we cope with today’s geopolitical challenges on a micro-level. The Biennial takes its form from the invited artists’ personal or analytical statements: an engaging mixture of hopes and visions, of sadness and indignation, of history and present day."

Pera Museum is one of the exhibition venues. Image courtesy of IKSV

In addition to the two-month-long exhibition, the 15th Istanbul Biennial also features a public programme coordinated by artist Zeyno Pekünlü that encompasses a variety of events and discussions related to the concept of "a good neighbour".

Without neglecting the burden of history and the immediacy of actuality, the Public Programme focuses on the shared questions that led to a number of important debates in recent years. During the opening and closing weeks of the Biennial, it features symposiums with thought-provoking speakers such as activist and professor Shahrzad Mojab, recognised for her research on the impact of war, displacement and violence on women’s learning and education; professor Joseph Massad, known for his criticism of liberal policies related to multiculturalism; professor of political economy Massimo de Angelis; and architect and scholar Stavros Stavrides, whose work focuses on spatial practices.

Galata Greek Primary School is one of the exhibition venues. Image © Refik Anadol

Entitled Chosen Families, the first trails the quest for different kinds of belongings beyond family as an institution. The second, Mutual Fate focuses on urban ecology and strives for finding ways out of anthropocentrism.

With panel discussions, screenings, workshops and regular events throughout the Biennial, participants can be found cooking, reading and playing music together. Admission to all Public Programme events is free.

Limerick. Image © Deidre Power. Photos by Lukas Wassmann, graphic design by Rupert Smyth

In anticipation of the exhibition, the 15th Istanbul Biennial launched an International Billboard Project to share the theme of "a good neighbour" in different cities around the world. Through collaborations with cultural institutions worldwide, the International Billboard Project displays a carefully curated selection of photographs by Lukas Wassmann, which capture unexpected encounters paired with questions asking what makes a good neighbour. 

Host cities include Moscow (Russia), Sydney (Australia), Milan (Italy), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Armagh, Ballynahinch, Belfast, Downpatrick and Newry (Northern Ireland), Southhampton (UK), Calgary (Canada), Plovidv (Bulgaria), and Chicago (USA), Seoul and Gwangju (South Korea).

Istanbul Modern is one of the exhibition venues. Image © Murat Germen

See the full list of the participating artists according to venue follows below:

Galata Greek Primary School

Heba Y. Amin

Born in Cairo, lives in Berlin

Mark Dion 

Born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, lives in New York, NY

Jonah Freeman & Justin Lowe

Born in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Dayton, Ohio, both live in New York, NY

Kasia Fudakowski

Born in London, lives in Berlin

Pedro Gómez-Egaña

Born in Bucaramanga, lives between Bergen and Copenhagen

Lungiswa Gqunta

Born in Port Elizabeth, lives in Cape Town

Andrea Joyce Heimer

Born in Great Falls, Montana, lives in Ferndale, Washington

Morag Keil & Georgie Nettell 

Born in Edinburgh and Bedford, both live in London

Olaf Metzel

Born in Berlin, lives in Munich

Mahmoud Obaidi

Born in Baghdad, lives in Burlington, Ontario

Henrik Olesen

Born in Esbjerg, lives in Berlin

Erkan Özgen

Born in Mardin, lives in Diyarbakır

Leander Schönweger

Born in Meran, lives in Vienna

Dan Stockholm

Born in Thisted, lives in Copenhagen

Ali Taptık

Born in Istanbul, lives in Istanbul

Bilal Yılmaz

Born in Manisa, lives in Istanbul

Istanbul Modern

Volkan Aslan

Born in Ankara, lives in Istanbul

Alper Aydın

Born in Ordu, lives between Ordu, Ankara, Konya, and Istanbul

Monica Bonvicini

Born in Venice, lives in Berlin

Louise Bourgeois

Born in Paris, died in New York, NY

Latifa Echakhch

Born in El Khnansa, lives in Martigny

Candeğer Furtun

Born in Istanbul, lives in Istanbul

Kim Heecheon

Born in Seoul, lives in Seoul

Mirak Jamal

Born in Tehran, lives in Berlin

Fernando Lanhas

Born in Porto, died in Porto

Victor Leguy

Born in Sao Paulo, lives in Sao Paulo

Klara Lidén

Born in Stockholm, lives in Berlin

Mahmoud Obaidi

Born in Baghdad, lives in Burlington, Ontario

Lydia Ourahmane

Born in Saida, lives in Oran and London

Rayyane Tabet

Born in Ashquot, lives in Beirut

Young-Jun Tak

Born in Seoul, lives in Berlin

Kaari Upson

Born in San Bernadino, California, lives in Los Angeles, California

Kemang Wa Lehulere

Born in Cape Town, lives in Cape Town

Yonamine 

Born in Luanda, lives in Harare

Xiao Yu

Born in Inner Mongolia, lives in Beijing

ARK Kültür

Mahmoud Khaled

Born in Alexandria, lives in Trondheim

Pera Museum

Adel Abdessemed

Born in Constantine, lives in London

Njideka Akunyili Crosby

Born in Enugu, lives in Los Angeles, California

Alejandro Almanza Pereda

Born in Mexico City, lives in Guadalajara

Berlinde De Bruyckere

Born in Ghent, lives in Ghent

Vajiko Chachkhiani

Born in Tbilisi, lives in Berlin

Gözde İlkin

Born in Kütahya, lives in Istanbul

Liliana Maresca

Born in Buenos Aires, died in Buenos Aires

Lee Miller

Born in Poughkeepsie, New York, died in Chiddingly, East Sussex

Aude Pariset

Born in Versailles, lives in Berlin

Sim Chi Yin

Born in Singapore, lives in Beijing

Dayanita Singh

Born in New Delhi, lives in New Delhi

Tatiana Trouvé

Born in Cosenza, lives in Paris

Tsang Kinwah

Born in Shantou, lives in Hong Kong

Andra Ursuta

Born in Salonta, lives in New York, NY

Fred Wilson

Born in New York, NY, lives in New York, NY

Yoğunluk Atelier

Yoğunluk

Founded in Istanbul, live in Istanbul

Küçük Mustafa Paşa Hammam

Monica Bonvicini

Born in Venice, lives in Berlin

Stephen G. Rhodes

Born in Houston, Texas, lives in Berlin

Tuğçe Tuna

Born in Mons, lives in Istanbul

Outside all venues

Burçak Bingöl

Born in Giresun, lives in Istanbul

Lukas Wassmann

Born in Zurich, lives in Berlin

Map of the venues. Image courtesy of IKSV

The Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts has been organising the Istanbul Biennial since 1987. The biennial aims to create a meeting point in İstanbul in the field of visual arts between artists from diverse cultures and the audience. 

The fourteen biennials İKSV has organised up to now have enabled the formation of an international cultural network between local and international art circles, artists, curators and art critics by bringing together new trends in contemporary art every two years.

Top image © Lukas Wassmann, graphic design by Rupert Smyth

> via Istanbul Biennial