Beirut-based Christine Tohmé has been appointed the curator of the 18th Istanbul Biennial, which will launch next year and develop in phases until 2027.
The Istanbul Foundation for Culture and the Arts (İKSV), the private foundation which administers the event, says in a statement that the first leg of the 18th biennial will feature exhibitions and public programmes running from 20 September to 23 November 2025, focusing on the themes of “self-preservation and futurities”. Artists are invited to submit dossiers online by 15 December.
“Throughout 2026, the biennial will focus on establishing a permanent educational structure and offering a quarterly public programme in close collaboration with local art initiatives. This edition will culminate between 18 September and 14 November 2027, with a series of exhibitions, publications, performances, and discursive gatherings,” adds IKSV.
Tohmé is the director of the Beirut-based non-profit organisation Ashkal Alwan. She curated the Sharjah Biennial 13: Tamawuj, which took place across numerous cities (2017–2018) including Ramallah on the West Bank and Dakar in Senegal.
She says in a statement: “The extended timeframe of three years will allow the biennial to engage more deeply with the local scene and foster projects and collaborations around collective questions, contexts, and communities. Its multi-year programme aims to support generations of artists in connecting with their regional and international peers, building alliances, and confronting new realities.”
Tohmé’s appointment follows a row over the initial appointment of Iwona Blazwick as curator last year. In February 2023, the Istanbul Biennial’s advisory board unanimously chose the Turkish curator Defne Ayas as the best candidate to curate the next biennial.
But the İKSV rejected the board’s recommendation and instead appointed Blazwick, the former director of the Whitechapel Gallery in London. At the time of her selection, Blazwick was a serving member of the advisory panel tasked with choosing a curator for the biennial, which was initially due to open in September this year.
The current Istanbul Biennial advisory board includes the academic and critic Ahu Antmen, the curator Lydia Gatundu Galavu and Sally Tallant, the president and executive director of the Queens Museum, New York. The IKSV has also posted regulations regarding advisory board appointments, outlining the new procedure for appointing a curator.
“The advisory board suggests three curator candidates… İKSV management cannot appoint anyone other than the three nominated candidates as the Istanbul Biennial curator and invites one of these three candidates as the Istanbul Biennial curator,” state the regulations.
