Organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) with the support of 2007–2036 Biennial Sponsor Koç Holding, the 18th Istanbul Biennial’s first leg will be open between 20 September and 23 November 2025.
Admission to the 18th Istanbul Biennial is free of charge at all eight venues.
Curated by Christine Tohmé and titled The Three-Legged Cat, the 18th Istanbul Biennial will unfold over three years, from 2025 to 2027. The first leg of the 18th Istanbul Biennial will take place from 20 September to 23 November 2025. The second leg of the biennial in 2026 will be dedicated to creating an academy and collaborating with local initiatives on a series of public programmes. In 2027, the biennial will lean on its third leg to rest, bringing together what has been encountered along the way through a final round of exhibitions and workshops.
Artists and Venues
The first leg of the 18th Istanbul Biennial focuses on themes of self-preservation and futurity. Christine Tohmé’s full curatorial statement is available on the biennial’s website.
As part of the first leg, works of 47 artists from around the world will be presented to audiences in eight different venues all located within walking distance of one another along the Beyoğlu-Karaköy axis of Istanbul.
The artists were invited to participate following an extensive research process involving studio visits, meetings, and a review of submissions received through an open call held between 31 October and 15 December 2024.
The 18th Istanbul Biennial takes place in the following venues: Galata Greek School, Zihni Han, Muradiye Han, Galeri 77, Cone Factory, Meclis-i Mebusan 35, Garden of the Former French Orphanage, and Elhamra Han.
Participating artists in the first leg of the biennial:
Galata Greek School – Nolan Oswald Dennis, İpek Duben, Ali Eyal, Simone Fattal, Lou Fauroux, Lungiswa Gqunta, Kongkee, Seta Manoukian, Merve Mepa, Naomi Rincón-Gallardo, Ana Vaz, Akram Zaatari, Ayman Zedani
Zihni Han – Abdullah Al Saadi, Willy Aractingi, Karimah Ashadu, Chen Ching-Yuan, Ian Davis, Celina Eceiza, Pélagie Gbaguidi, Rafik Greiss, Jasleen Kaur, Valentin Noujaïm, Marwan Rechmaoui, Stéphanie Saadé, Sara Sadik, Sohail Salem, Elif Saydam, Selma Selman
Muradiye Han – Ana Alenso
Galeri 77 – Haig Aivazian, Ola Hassanain, Mona Marzouk, Dilek Winchester
Cone Factory – Doruntina Kastrati, Claudia Pagès Rabal
Meclis-i Mebusan 35 – Eva Fàbregas, Pilar Quinteros, VASKOS (Vassilis Noulas & Kostas Tzimoulis)
Garden of the Former French Orphanage – Khalil Rabah
Elhamra Han – Mona Benyamin, Şafak Şule Kemancı, Jagdeep Raina, Riar Rizaldi, Lara Saab, Natasha Tontey, Sevil Tunaboylu
Public Programme
The opening week of the Biennial will feature a public programme including live performances, a series of film screenings, and a lineup of DJ sets.
Selma Selman’s Motherboards, at Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, is conceived in collaboration with the artist’s family, and stages the extraction of gold from discarded electronics. At once an homage to Selman’s family business and a meditation on value, the work implicates the extractivist legacies of institutions and markets alike.
Alex Baczyński-Jenkins’ Untitled (Holding Horizon), at Arter’s Karbon space, is a durational dance performance that uses the box step as a vessel for rehearsing a sense of queer intimacy and collectivity, as it swings through memories of raves, funerals, and revolts.
Ahmad Ghossein’s So your heart aches, huh? or The Pit, staged as a monologue, unspools a personal attempt at remaining afloat amid Lebanon’s economic and political collapse, drawing on a self-directed study of hormones such as dopamine and oxytocin as strange alibis for joy.
The films included in the screening programme oscillate between speculative histories, geopolitical fault lines, and the autofictional. Maxime Hourani’s Stones Never Lie unfolds in the forests of Mount Lebanon. The film draws on Louis Auguste Blanqui’s speculative cosmology connecting a failed revolution, echoing the country’s civil war of 1860. Samar Al Summary’s What Goes Up navigates homesickness and displacement against the deadening backdrop of an Arizona airbase. Lawrence Abu Hamdan’s 45th Parallel examines borders and drone warfare through a single fatal bullet that crossed the USA-Mexico border in 2010. Suneil Sanzgiri’s An Impossible Address combines analogue ruin and digital reconstruction to explore shared anti-colonial histories between India and Africa, anchored in the revolutionary life – and disappearance – of Angolan anti-colonialist activist Sita Valles.
The opening programme also features DJ performances by Jtamul, Urok Shirhan, GLVRE, and LOKA.
A shared hub for gatherings and events: Zihni Han Floor Two
Zihni Han Floor Two is conceived as an open space for the visitors to pause, rest, and spend time together. A modest library will also be available, offering a selection of books connected to the exhibition and beyond. Visitors are welcome to browse or add to the collection, allowing the library to grow as a shared resource. Those interested in organising a gathering, conversation, workshop, or any other events are invited to send their proposals to ist.biennial.zihnihan2@iksv.org.
The programme at Zihni Han, running from 20 September to 23 November, will be continuously updated and can be accessed via the QR code displayed on site. Proposed events will be scheduled in line with the biennial’s calendar.
Admission to all public programme events is free of charge.
Learning Programme
The programme for children and young people has been made possible through the support of Koç Holding. Held at the Galata Greek School in collaboration with PACE Kids Art Center, the learning programme offers participants the opportunity to view the exhibited works closely and engage in conversations.
The Biennial’s Children’s Book: Optigull and Pesigull
Since 2017, Istanbul’s seagulls Optigull and Pesigull have embarked on new adventures with each biennial. They return for the 18th Istanbul Biennial in Optigull and Pesigull: The Map of Lost Sounds, a new story published with the support of the Hisar School. Written by Yekta Kopan, illustrated by Gökçe Akgül, and edited by Burcu Ural Kopan, the book follows the two seagulls as they search for their lost friends among the biennial venues,guiding readers through the diversity that Istanbul harbours. Optigull and Pesigull will be available free of charge, at the Galata Greek School in October.
Press release by İKSV
Image: Marwan Rechmaoui. Chasing the Sun. 2025. Installation view at Zihni Han, Istanbul Biennial. Sandboxes, stars, sun, wire cars, olive trees, clouds, seesaw, swing sets, sailboat, toy horse. Dimensions variable. Image courtesy of the artist and Sfeir-Semler Gallery
