Established back in 1987, the Istanbul Biennial's first two editions were organized by local curator and critic Beral Madra, but since then the exhibition has taken on an increasingly global character, bringing in world-renowned curators like René Block (in 1995), Dan Cameron (in 2003), Adriano Pedrosa, and Jens Hoffmann (who co-curated in 2011), and, in 2007, the Zagreb-based curatorial collective What, How & for Whom. The 2013 edition, which was curated by SKOR Foundation For Art and Public Domain director Fulya Erdemci, had a typical lineup of nearly 90 international and Turkish artists, duos, and collectives gathered under the theme "Mom, am I barbarian?," among them Thomas Hirschhorn, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Elmgreen & Dragset, Mika Rottenberg. The Istanbul Biennial prefers an exhibition model that enables a dialogue between artists and the audience through the work of the artists.
Stats Sheet
Year founded: 1987.
Takes place every: Two years.
Current edition: 14th edition (in 2015).
Current curator: Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev (in 2015)
Previous curators: Fulya Erdemci (in 2013).
Countries represented: 33 (in 2013).
Artists included: 88 (in 2013).
Attendance: 337,429 (in 2013).
Important date: The 14th edition of the Istanbul Biennial runs September 1 to November 1, 2015.