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5/9/2007

10th International Istanbul Biennial

Different venues, Istanbul

Not Only Possible, But Also Necessary - Optimism in the age of global war

curated by Hou Hanru

The 10th International İstanbul Biennial, organised by the İstanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, will be open in the city from September 8 - November 4, 2007, under the curatorship of Mr. Hou Hanru, currently Director of Exhibitions and Public Programs at San Francisco Art Institute. The 10th İstanbul Biennial will not be a thematic exhibition in the traditional manner; rather, it will emphasise artistic production based on collective intelligence and the living process of negotiating with physical sites.

The biennial will focus on urban issues and architectural reality as a means of exposing different cultural contexts and artistic visions regarding the complex and diverse forms of modernity. The current mutation of the global art scene reflects the restructuring of the world order prompted by the inventions and realisations of different modernities and modernisation projects beyond the traditional hegemonic vision of the West. This tendency is naturally the focus of the upcoming İstanbul Biennial when it attains its 10th edition. The unique context of Turkey as one of the earliest non-Western modern republics and its geopolitical position as a gateway between Europe and Asia provide a perfect location and momentum for artistic and cultural explorations of such an issue. It represents aspiration and optimism – it’s a kind of realisable utopia. We are living in an age of globalisation. The impacts of globalisation on different parts of the world are complex and contradictory. They not only create economic, cultural and social progress but also spread conflicts and wars all over. Facing such a reality, better visions of our life and society driven by the dynamism of modernisation and certain utopian idealism are urgently needed. Such endeavours are not only possible. They are also necessary. And contemporary art, if it can still make sense in our turbulently mutating world, must engage itself in such a struggle.

After 20 years of existence, İstanbul Biennial, as one of the first "Non-Western" biennials, is now achieving a real maturity. It’s necessary to inject fresh blood. The question of the global versus the local is central while the tension between reality and utopia provides the main driving force for the search of improvement of our world suffering from various global wars and conflicts. How to re-engage the Biennial to invent new local conditions facing the challenge of globalisation is crucial. It implies continuous efforts to produce a new locality for more open, complex, multicultural and creative artistic and cultural activities. In fact, the city of İstanbul, along with its cultural events such as the Biennial, has been creating a unique history through the invention of its own modernity.

It’s a perfect example of successful modernisation beyond the Euro-centric perspective. This in turn helps this locality reposition itself as a significant player in the current geopolitical and cultural structure of the world. The upcoming Biennial strives to contribute to this process in an even more innovative and relevant way. If the previous Biennials have always been closely connected to the urban history itself, the 10th Biennial will more intimately engage itself to the contemporary urban reality by highlighting the interactions between artistic creations and modern and contemporary architectural experiments. Articulating the city as a site of production and exchange, the Biennial looks to turn itself into an immense laboratory for artists from both Turkey and all around the world to explore such possibilities and even necessities of transformation. The Biennial is therefore systematically experimental and committed to the dialogues between the artists and the local public.

Therefore, instead of imposing any definite concept on the event via fixed exhibition format, we decide to open up the Biennial as a platform of imagination, dialogue and production. The issues that the Biennial is focused on will be explored and realised both materially and physically at Biennial sites, specifically selected for their historic and functional characteristics, through a continuous process of dialogues among international artists, local public and specific contexts. Hardly appeared in tourist maps of İstanbul, these sites are culturally and politically symbolic of the question of modernity: "situ-actions", generating situations as a force of urban transformation. Each site will have a focus:

for example,

The Atatürk Cultural Centre (AKM), representing the dream of the republic and modern society, will be a venue for utopian projects with urban focus. The current discussions, sometimes, controversial, about the present and future states of the edifice provide an ideal site for critical examination of issues such as urban gentrification and reconstruction prompted by the global trend of privatisation of urban spaces, etc.

The İMÇ Buildings, a unique and remarkably successful modernist achievement in İstanbul’s architectural history, will be a site for exploration of the economic and productive aspect of modernity as "world factory". It will be a venue for interventions related to the impact of the modernisation of economy, questions of the transformation of industry, i.e. labour migration, workers, the question of work in a global context.

The Antrepo site that has been successfully incorporated by the previous Biennials will be conceived of as an "Entre-polis", and will be a site for projects focusing on trans-national migration, communication and borderlines. Articulating the notion of "polis", it also represents necessities of remapping the world beyond the logic of nation-states.

The santralistanbul site which is going through an ambitious renovation process, will act as a laboratory, an educational area and as a workshop environment. It is also a space for exchanges amongst self-organisational art initiatives in different parts of the world, especially those from Turkey and neighbouring regions.

To engage the Biennial programmes more profoundly and intimately with the real urban life of İstanbul, it’s absolutely important to surpass the conventional temporal and spatial framework of an art event. Therefore, the Biennial is conceived not only as an exhibition but also as a process and site of cultural production that goes beyond office hours. Night programmes have been designed to integrate the public directly with the Biennial project and to create a platform of democratic participation.

Referring to "Dazibao", a form of radically democratic street postings of public opinions during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, an "Electronic Image Dazibao", which consists of contributions of video works from professional and amateur artists via an open call and selected by a group of Turkish young curators, will be set up and travel across different sites during night time. On the other hand, a series of performing art events will be accordingly organised to provide an even more open and public dimension to the Biennial.

A publication will be brought out for each venue in line with the conceptual framework of the site. In the meantime, various forms of production and exchange of discourses, such as conference, workshops, discussions, etc. are to be organised during the preparation of the exhibition. This will improve the exchanging between the artists, often coming from outside, and the local artistic and cultural community and encourage their eventual collaboration.

At the end, the Biennial seeks to become a site of real life, providing places for people to rest, sleep and dream, during their night trajectories across the city… a project called "Dream House" will be realised with site-specific works by various international artists to allow the public enjoy transcendent moments of dreaming: it’s not only possible but also necessary to envision a better world. Optimism is a necessary spirit for us to survive this age of global war.

Preview dates: 6-7 September
Press Conference: 6 September, 10.00

Contact
Üstungel İnanç
Foreign Press Coordinator Media Relations

Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts
Istiklal Caddesi 64 Beyoglu 34435 Istanbul - Turkey
Phone +90 212 334 0757
Fax +90 212 334 0716
uinanc@iksv.org
http://www.iksv.org

Venues:
AKM - Ataturk Kültur Merkezi (Atatürk Cultural Center)
IMÇ – Istanbul Manifaturacılar Çarşısı (Istanbul Textile Traders' Market)
Antrepo no. 3
santralistanbul

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