Istanbul Biennial announces curator for its 18th edition!

Photograph: © Tanya Traboulsi, 2024.

We are excited to share with you the news that Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) and the Istanbul Biennial have announced Christine Tohmé as the curator for its 18th Edition. Her mark, together with Kevser Güler new leadership of the Biennale is already visible in that the project foresees an open call for the first time in over ten years for the Istanbul Biennial as well as a program spanning beyond 2025.

Here the full press release by the Istanbul Biennial

Organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) and sponsored by 2007-2036 Biennial Sponsor Koç Holding, the 18th Istanbul Biennial will be curated by Christine Tohmé.

The 18th Istanbul Biennial will unfold in three distinct legs, each building on the previous one and carrying forward lines of inquiry and research from 2025 to 2027.

The first leg will feature exhibitions and public programmes running from 20 September to 23 November 2025. Throughout 2026, the Biennial will focus on establishing a permanent educational structure and offering a quarterly public programme in close collaboration with local art initiatives. This edition will culminate between 18 September and 14 November 2027, with a series of exhibitions, publications, performances, and discursive gatherings.

This three-legged biennial attempts to reclaim ‘time’, a necessary ingredient for transformative artistic processes, by stretching its timeframe and generating different strides. In her proposal, Tohmé states:

‘I have found working in the arts to be most transformative, not only in moments of formal presentation but, more importantly, during its production—in the creative process, everyday exchanges, openings, studio visits, and reading groups. Therefore, the 18th Istanbul Biennial should invest as much in the production process as in its presentation. The extended timeframe of three years will allow the Biennial to engage more deeply with the local scene and foster projects and collaborations around collective questions, contexts, and communities. Its multi-year programme aims to support generations of artists in connecting with their regional and international peers, building alliances, and confronting new realities.’

Call for participation in the 18th Istanbul Biennial

The first leg of the Biennial will focus on themes of self-preservation and futurities. In the face of precarity and recurring crises, how do material conditions and lack of safety affect our daily lives and shape our relationships with ourselves, our bodies, and our communities? How do we create spaces of respite, foster unconventional solidarities, and devise counterstrategies of resistance? What futures can we envision in a dual movement of repair and forward imagination? How can we inhabit our worlds as they unravel, making space for both nightmares and dreams, impermanence and endurance?

For the first leg in 2025, we invite interested artists to submit their dossiers via the online form by following the steps below.

Submission guidelines

Local and international artists from all disciplines are welcome to apply. The dossier should include a project proposal relevant to the above themes, along with a portfolio.

• Online Form: https://tinyurl.com/2s4bztdd
• Project Proposal: Should directly address the curatorial themes (maximum 3,500 characters without spaces, up to 10 MB)
• Portfolio: Demonstrating past work and experience (up to 100 MB)

The deadline for submission is 17:00 on 15 December 2024.

Selected artists will be invited to further discussions, either in person or virtually.

For more information: ist.biennial@iksv.org

Note: All submissions must be in English or Turkish, and all files must be uploaded in the designated fields in the online form.

About Christine Tohmé

Christine Tohmé’s curatorial and institutional practice engages with cultural production, arts education, and community building. In 1993, Tohmé founded Ashkal Alwan, a non-profit organisation that continues to support contemporary artistic practices through various initiatives, including the tuition-free study programme, Home Workspace Program (2011–present), and online platforms Perpetual Postponement and aashra. As a curator, Tohmé conceived numerous multidisciplinary programmes, including Home Works: A Forum on Cultural Practices, Beirut (2002–present), and Sharjah Biennial 13: Tamawuj, which spanned multiple cities (2017–2018). Her work has been recognised with the UNESCO-Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture (2018), the CCS Bard Audrey Irmas Award for Curatorial Excellence (2015), and the Prince Claus Award (2006). She serves on the boards of the International Biennial Association and Haven for Artists, a feminist cultural organisation based in Beirut. She lives and works in Beirut, Lebanon.

18th Istanbul Biennial overview

The 18th Istanbul Biennial is organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), with sponsorship from 2007-2036 Biennial Sponsor Koç Holding and additional support from international partners and funding bodies.

The Istanbul Biennial Advisory Board includes academic and critic Ahu Antmen; curator Lydia Gatundu Galavu; artist Gözde İlkin; researcher, curator, and art director Renan Laru-an; and curator and museum director Sally Tallant.

To learn more about the regulations regarding the advisory board and the method for the appointment of curator, please see: https://bienal.iksv.org/en/regulations/advisory-board-regulation

The first phase of the 18th Istanbul Biennial will take place between 20 September and 23 November 2025, with media previews scheduled for 16–19 September 2025 and professional previews on 18–19 September 2025.

Details of the 2026 and 2027 programmes will be announced in the coming months.