ARTISTS ANNOUNCED FOR THE 15TH ISTANBUL BIENNIAL

Taking place from 16 September – 12 November 2017, the 15th edition of the Istanbul Biennial, entitled ‘a good neighbour’ brings together artworks by 55 artists from 32 countries, all addressing different notions of home, belonging and neighbourhood. The biennial takes place in six neighbouring venues: Istanbul Modern, Galata Greek Primary School, Ark Kültür, Pera Museum, Yoğunluk Atelier, and Küçük Mustafa Paşa Hammam.

Venue Map of the 15th Istanbul Biennial 2017

Instead of a statement, the curators, artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset, developed 40 questions that have guided the process of making the exhibition. These questions were first presented live in Istanbul by 40 performers of different ages, genders and backgrounds in December 2016, and were shared on the Biennial’s website and social media accounts. A video documentation of the press conference can found through this youtube link.

“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. 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.”
Elmgreen & Dragset, curators of the 15th Istanbul Biennial

Billboard for the 15th Istanbul Biennial, Dublin 2017

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).

List of artists

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 Istanbul, 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