11. Istanbul Biennial

The 11th International Istanbul Biennial, organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts and sponsored by Koc Holding is set for 12 September-8 November 2009, under the curatorship of What, How & for Whom / WHW.

What, How and for Whom/WHW is a curators’ collective formed in 1999 and based in Zagreb, Croatia. WHW organizes different exhibition, production and publishing projects, and has since 2003 directed the program of Gallery Nova –a city-owned gallery in Zagreb. WHW members are curators Ivet Curlin, Ana Devic, Natasa Ilic and Sabina Sabolovic.

11th International Istanbul Biennial events start with the first series of talks and conversations under the title “Red Thread,” to be held in April and June 2008. The first talk, “5Ws of What, How and for Whom” by WHW will be held on April 21, 2008 at the ITU Faculty of Architecture.

Lecture “5Ws of What, How and for Whom” refers to questions implicit in the very name of the WHW collective - what, how and for whom: the three basic questions of every economic organization that also concern the planning, conception and realization of exhibitions, as well as the production and distribution of artworks, or artists’ position in the labour market. These questions, which were the title of WHW's first project dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the Communist Manifesto, in 2000 in Zagreb, are recurrent in all of WHW’s projects.

This talk will be followed by “Open Labyrinth,” a talk by Zdenka Badovinac, Charles Esche, Hou Hanru and Vasıf Kortun in conversation with Stephen Wright. “Open Labyrinth” describes the condition of an art that, conceptually, has lost its self-definition; that finds itself stripped of its spatial demarcation and historical moorings; which, ontologically, is without its self-evident modalities of appearing in the world. What threads can guide curatorship in the age of an open labyrinth? The loss of self-evident exteriority cuts to the quick of artistic agency inasmuch as documents and archives are all too often fetishized instead of being the performative impetus for renewing the ontological status of whatever it is that is documented or archived. Yet the condition of an open labyrinth is also a chance for a renewed approach to curatorship, opening the prospect of divulging – without betraying – practices with impaired coefficients of artistic visibility.

For further information Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts Istiklal Caddesi 64 Beyoglu 34435 Istanbul Turkey ist.biennial@iksv.org

11th International Istanbul Biennial
Kuratiert von What, How & For Whom / WHW 

Künstler: Jan Jorobaev, Anna Boghiguian, Artur Zmijewski, Avi Mograbi, Aydan Murtezaoglu & Bülent Sangar, Bureau d´études, Canan Senol, Cengiz Cekil, Danica Dakic, Darinka Pop-Mitic, David Maljkovic, decolonizing.ps  (Sandi Hilal, Alessandro Petti, Eyal Weizman), Deimantas Narkevicius, Doa Aly, Donghwan Jo & Haejun Jo, Erkan Özgen, Etcetera , Hamlet Hovsepian, Hans-Peter Feldmann, Hrair Sarkissian, Hüseyin Alptekin, Igor Grubic, Ioana Nemes, Isil Egrikavuk, Inci Furni, Jesse Jones, Jinoos Taghizadeh, Jumana Emil Abboud, Karen Andreassian, KP Brehmer, KwieKulik  (Zofia Kulik), Lado Darakhvelidze, Larissa Sansour, Lidia Blinova, Lisi Raskin, María Ruido, Margaret Harrison, Marina Naprushkina, Marko Peljhan, Marwan , Michel Journiac, Mladen Stilinovic, Mohammed Ossama, Mounira Al Solh, Museum of American Art  (Amerikan Sanati Müzesi), Nam June Paik, Natalya Dyu, Nevin Aladag, Nilbar Güres, Oraib Toukan, Rabih Mroue, Rena Effendi, Ruti Sela & Maayan Amir, Sanja Ivekovic, Shahab Fotouhi, Sharon Hayes, Signs of Conflict: Political Posters of Lebanon's Civil War (Zeina Maasri), Simon Wachsmuth, Sinisa Labrovic, Société Réaliste , Tamas St. Auby, Trevor Paglen, Vangelis Vlahos, Vlatka Horvat, Vyacheslav Akhunov, Wafa Hourani, Wendelien van Oldenborgh, Chto Delat? , Yüksel Arslan, Zanny Begg, Lado Darakvhelidze