The 18th Istanbul Biennial

Tracing the Footsteps of the Three-Legged Cat: The 18th Istanbul Biennial

The 18th Istanbul Biennial, curated by Christine Tohmé, departs from conventional biennial models with a distinctive structure spanning three years. Titled The Three-Legged Cat, the biennial will unfold in three phases between 2025 and 2027.

The first phase will take place from 20 September to 23 November 2025 across eight venues in Istanbul’s Beyoğlu–Karaköy district. With the support of main sponsor Koç Holding, entry will be free of charge. Forty-seven participating artists were selected following an extensive research process that included studio visits, artist meetings, and the evaluation of submissions to an open call held between 31 October and 15 December 2024. During this process, over 1,500 applications from 105 countries were reviewed, forming one of the most significant steps in the curatorial framework of the biennial.

The biennial’s second phase will continue in 2026 with the establishment of the Istanbul Biennial Academy and a series of public programs developed in collaboration with art initiatives. The third and final phase in 2027 will bring the biennial to completion through workshops, performances, and a concluding exhibition.

As a host venue, Galata Greek School is proud to welcome the 18th Istanbul Biennial.

In her conceptual framework for the biennial, Christine Tohmé describes the project as a three-legged cat:

“Accelerating destruction, forced migrations, and unstoppable crises shatter horizons and fracture future possibilities. Confronted with an ever-shrinking present, our bodies are forced to keep pace with multiple times: some fast, some slow, some broken. Like a cat, we stumble and leap forward, turn around ourselves, curl up, vanish, and reappear. As we try to find our bearings, we learn to rest, while also protecting and repairing the fragile parts of ourselves.”
In her call to artists, Tohmé further defined the biennial’s focus through key questions:

How do material conditions and insecurity affect our daily lives in times of fragility and recurring crises?
How are our relationships with ourselves, our bodies, and society being reshaped?
How do we create spaces of pause and breathing?
How do we discover unconventional forms of solidarity and counter-strategies of resistance?
How does the act of repair intertwine with imagining futures to open up new possibilities?
As our worlds simultaneously unravel into nightmares and dreams, transience and resilience, how can we continue to live within them?
The 18th Istanbul Biennial invites audiences to reflect on these questions while tracing the resilient, adaptive, and transformative path of the Three-Legged Cat.

Ayman Zedani, Between Desert Seas (2021)

Naomi Rincón-Gallardo, The Opossum’s Resistance (2019), from the series A Cave Trilogy

İpek Duben, Children of Paradise II, III, IV (2000–2005)