After the success of the 17th edition in 2022 (half a million visitors in nine weeks), the preparation for the 18th Istanbul Biennale was punctuated by disappointments, culminating with the premature end of the 2024 Biennale postponed to 2025. The origin of the difficulties is linked to the governance of the event. Traditionally, the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and the Arts (IKSV), created in 1987 and in charge of the Biennale, relies on an international advisory committee which proposes curators for each edition.
In February 2023, this advisory board – composed of the artist Gözde İlkin (Turkey), the curator Sally Tallant (UK/USA) and the academic Ahu Antmen (Turkey) – appoints Defne Ayas as curator for the 2024 edition. A renowned Turkish-Dutch curator and director of the Van Abbemuseum (Netherlands), she benefits from a broad consensus.
But, against all expectations, the IKSV rejects this recommendation and announces in the summer of 2023 the appointment of Iwona Blazwick, former director of the Whitechapel Gallery in London, without providing a public explanation. The decision sparked considerable controversy. On the one hand, Iwona Blazwick herself sat on the selection committee, raising a possible conflict of interest. On the other hand, the ousting of Defne Ayas is perceived by some as politically sensitive: several observers recall that she co-organized in 2015, at the Turkish pavilion of the Venice Biennale, an exhibition addressing the Armenian genocide – a historical crime still denied by the Turkish state -, a positioning likely to have displeased certain authorities or sponsors.
Lungiswa Gqunta, Assemble the Disappearing2024-2025, installation visible in the 18th edition of the Istanbul Biennale.
© Sahir Ugur Eren
Three members of the Biennale’s advisory board then resigned in protest, denouncing the non-compliance with governance processes. Thus in August 2023, gallery owner Esra Sarıgedik Öktem gave up her role as curator of the Turkish pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale. In a message published on Instagram, she expressed her “deep distress” facing the gap of Defne Ayas. The director of the Istanbul Biennale, Bige Örer, announces her departure at the end of 2023, after fifteen years at the head of the event, officially to devote herself to other projects.
In October 2023, 208 artists and curators, including many former participants of the Biennale, signed an open letter calling on the IKSV to demonstrate fairness and transparency. At the same time, artists Ateş Alpar, Bengü Karaduman, Kerem Ozan Bayraktar and Yaşam Saşmazer declare their withdrawal from the 2024 Biennale as a sign of disapproval.
Faced with this growing revolt, the IKSV finally gave in. Iwona Blazwick resigns from her role as commissioner before even starting her job, just weeks after her appointment.
To get out of the impasse, the IKSV turns to Christine Tohmé, a Lebanese curator based in Beirut. In October 2024, she was officially appointed curator of the 18th Istanbul Biennale, with the mission of resuming the project after a one-year postponement. Founder of the Ashkal Alwan organization in Lebanon and curator of the Sharjah Biennale in 2017, she enjoys a good reputation.
Christine Tohmé imagines a Biennale which “ extends over three years “. Entitled “The Three-Legged Cat”, the project is based on three successive components stretching from 2025 to 2027. The stated ambition is that of a continuous biennial, capable of reacting to social and environmental developments, rather than a fixed meeting every two years.
Despite a promising start, more than 600,000 visitors during this fall of 2025 alone, the 18th Biennale experienced an unexpected outcome: it was interrupted prematurely after its first part, without the planned stages 2 and 3 being able to take place. In December 2025, a few weeks after the end of the first sequence, the commissioner announced her resignation for “personal reasons”. The IKSV publishes a press release on December 29, 2025 indicating that, following this decision, “the Biennale will conclude after its first phase”.
However, the IKSV claims to be preparing for the future. She announces the launch of work on the 19th Biennale, scheduled for 2027, in order to maintain the usual biennial cycle. A new advisory committee is formed, including curator Lydia G. Galavu (Kenya) and curator Renan Laru-an (Philippines). The choice of commissioner must be announced in 2026.
