If you haven’t checked it out yet, the Istanbul Biennial runs until 1 November 2015. The 14 edition of the art festival sees over 80 artists from all over the world exhibited in 30 venues on both sides of the Bosphorus., that include spaces as diverse as boats, private homes, garages and museums.
This year’s theme is ‘salt water’. Curator Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev explains,
“Salt water is one of the most ubiquitous materials in the world. Sodium in our bodies makes our neurological system, and thus our vital systems, work; it literally keeps us alive. At the same time, salt water is the most corrosive material threat to the digital age: if you drop your smart phone in fresh water, you can dry it and it will probably work again. If it falls into salt water, chemical molecular changes in the materials of your phone will break it. When you visit the 14th Istanbul Biennial, you will spend quite a bit of time on salt water. There is a slowing down of the experience of art due to the travel between venues, especially on ferries. That is very healthy: salt water helps to heal respiration problems and many other illnesses, as well as calming the nerves.”
It’s suggested three days is the right amount of time to visit the exhibits which include a group show at Istanbul Modern, a former cargo warehouse; two artists’ work in the women’s and men’s changing rooms of a former Ottoman bathhouse that was built in 1477 and a lighthouse with an artist’s work on the side.
