The current Istanbul Biennial has been cut short after the curator, Christine Tohmé, resigned from her post. The 18th Istanbul Biennial will “conclude after its first leg following Tohmé’s decision to step down due to personal circumstances”, says a statement from the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV), the private foundation that administers the event.
The first leg of the biennial was held from 20 September to 23 November across eight venues and welcomed over 600,000 visitors. But the biennial, entitled The Three-Legged Cat, was initially envisioned by Tohmé as “a three-legged structure to unfold over three years” with an academic programme planned for 2026 and a second exhibition in 2027.
Tohmé’s exhibition, which was generally well received, was a bid for stability by IKSV following a rocky period of reorganisation. In February 2023, the Istanbul Biennial’s advisory board unanimously chose Defne Ayas, now the director of The Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, to oversee the 18th edition. However, the IKSV rejected the board’s decision and instead appointed a member of the selection committee, Iwona Blazwick formerly of the Whitechapel Gallery in London.
After an outcry in the arts community, Blazwick stepped down from the role and Tohmé, a respected curator based in Beirut, was finally selected. She proposed spreading events over three years and initiating an open call to encourage transparency.
Initial work for the 19th Istanbul Biennial, scheduled for 2027, will begin in the coming days, says IKSV. Following advisory board meetings, the curator for the 19th edition will be announced in 2026.
The board comprises the Turkish academic Ahu Antmen; Lydia Gatundu Galavu, curator at the National Museums of Kenya; the Turkish artist Gözde İlkin; the Berlin-based curator Renan Laru-an and Sally Tallant, the president and executive director of the Queens Museum, New York.