The maverick Scandinavian artists Elmgreen & Dragset have been appointed as the curators of the 15th Istanbul Biennial, which opens late next year (16 September-12 November 2017). The pair have long been associated with the established biennial, having participated in three editions (their performance piece Istanbul Diaries featured in the 2013 biennial).
The artists say in a statement: “In light of the current global geopolitical situation, in which we’re experiencing a new rise of nationalism, it will be important for us to curate a biennial based on collaborative efforts and processes.” Programme details will be announced in the autumn. The biennial was launched by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts in 1987, and is sponsored by the Turkish conglomerate Koc Holding.
The appointment is part of a growing trend: the Delhi-based artist group, Raqs Media Collective, were appointed last month as curators of the 11th Shanghai Biennale at the Power Station of Art (opens 11 November), the New York art collective DIS will organise the forthcoming Berlin Biennale (opens 4 June) while the Indian artist Sudarshan Shetty is the curator of the third edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, which opens in Kerala, south India, in December.
Elmgreen & Dragset are rarely out of the spotlight. Today, 13 April, they will unveil their mammoth swimming pool sculpture, Van Gogh’s Ear, at the Rockefeller Centre in New York, which was commissioned by the Public Art Fund. For their exhibition The Well Fair at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing (until 17 April), the pair transformed the venue’s main hall into a fictional fair.
Key works by the artists include The Black and White Diary (2009), a selection of selfie-like snapshots documenting the duo’s professional and personal lives; Modern Moses (2006), an installation featuring a baby abandoned near a cashpoint; and Self Portraits (2015), a series of appropriated works based on other artists’ wall labels.