Curated by Nicolas Bourriaud, this year’s Istanbul Biennial is titled ‘The Seventh Continent’, in reference to the vast mound of plastic waste in the ocean, and asks us to think about the anthropocene, climate emergency, and the end of the world or the beginning of a new one. Helen Nisbet reports.
Eva Kotátkova’s ‘Machine for Restoring Empathy’ installation. An autistic delegate’s perspective What must it be like to trust the universe to keep you upright? What is the cause of neurodivergent anxiety? These seemingly unconnected questions ricochet inside my head as I […]
In Brief: News briefing with national and international stories, including Nicolas Bourriaud to curate 16th edition of the Istanbul Biennial and Frieze New York to offer compensation to exhibitors following heatwave.
The Istanbul Biennial has had a troubled few years. In 2013 it was embroiled in controversy over its reaction to political demonstrations in the city’s Taksim Square, while the current 14th edition arrived at a time of growing political tension in the country. As it draws to a close this week and Turkey prepares to go to the polls in a snap election, Dany Louise argues that this international biennial has failed to respond to the urgent and compelling context it finds itself in.
The 14th Istanbul Biennial opens with work by over 80 international artists and a theme that ‘hovers around’ the connotations and physical reality of salt water.
Various venues, Istanbul
14 September – 20 October 2013
