The 8th edition of Contemporary Istanbul will take place between 7-10 November 2013 at The Istanbul Convention and Exhibition Centre (ICEC) and Istanbul Congress Center (ICC). According to the official announcement, this will be the largest edition to date. It will feature 92 galleries from 21 countries, with works created by over 650 international and Turkish artists.
This edition coincides with another important event, the 13th Istanbul Biennial. It is also organized at the same time with Art Istanbul “A Week of Art” (4-10 November 2013), which features numerous art fairs and galleries, museums, institutions, special projects and cultural centers. This is the second year for Art Istanbul:
‘Since 2006 the aim of CI has been to raise awareness of both local and international artists in Turkey, while increasing interest amongst international audiences in Turkey’s vibrant contemporary artistic scene. Our vision is to be a fair embedded in the culture of Istanbul while being an artistic hub for galleries from across Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. We believe in the assets of the local culture should not to be effaced by the uniform, homogenous global culture. Aligning ourselves to the values in the last seven years, we gathered not only galleries from across the world but also hosted countries like Golf Countries, Eastern European Countries and this year Russia. Thus highlighting the unique global idiosyncrasy (the character) of Contemporary Istanbul as not only an art fair, but a cultural platform. Previous editions of the fair have been extremely successful with regards to sales and interest, with over 200 international press and the presence of many decisive and eager Turkish collectors. Several groups of international collectors made large acquisitions for their collections. In light of this success, we are happy to announce the launch of two new satellite fairs coinciding with Contemporary Istanbul in 2014, with a focus on photography, new media and emerging artists and galleries” said Mr Ali Gureli, Chairman of fair.
Some of the participant galleries are Marlborough Gallery, New York; Galerie Lelong, Paris; Michael Schultz, Germany; Klaus Steinmetz, Costa Rica; Opera Gallery, Genoa; Galeria Filomena Soares, Lisbon; Andipa Gallery, London; Pi Artworks, Rampa, Xist from Turkey.
Contemporary Istanbul includes a New Horizons section, which focuses on the artistic expression of surrounding countries of the region, with Russia as the featured country of the year.
Other highlights of this year’s edition of the fair include DIYALOG: Art from Vienna, a section featuring artists from Austria’s capital, while Hermann Nitsch, one of the founders of Vienna Actionism, will exhibit his 66th Painting Performance, “Malakt” in the adjacent 500 m2 area throughout the fair.
More information about the Contemporary Istanbul fair are available on the official website.