"Curating Contemporary Art" Seminar Program
Seminar: The Making Of A Biennial: Models, Institutions, Stakeholders
Speaker: Çelenk Bafra
Time: 18:00-19:30
What is the difference between biennials, which are increasingly visible and controversial, from large exhibitions or festivals? What are the priorities of biennials, which are often named after the city where they are held and whose curators are decisive? With what stakeholders and processes do biennials emerge, from their supporters to their artists, from their audience to their team? While the answers to these questions are sought in the workshop through well-established examples from different parts of the world, such as the Venice Biennial and the São Paulo Biennial, biennials in Turkey are specifically addressed. Thus, the transforming structure and issues of biennials are discussed with the participants through historical and current examples.
About Çelenk Bafra
Çelenk Bafra is the artistic director of Istanbul Modern. She has worked in biennials, residency programs and museums since the 2000s, curated group exhibitions and research-oriented programs in art institutions in Europe. Previously, she was the director of the Istanbul Biennial and SAHA, and worked as the director and curator of exhibitions & programs at Istanbul Modern. Collaborating with international residency and curatorial programs, she has worked as the founding director of two artist-in-residency programs: SAHA Studio in Istanbul and Atelier de Turquie at Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris. She coordinated the participation of artists from Turkey in different biennials such as the Venice Biennial and biennials in Sao Paulo, Lyon and Havana, and prepared articles and seminars analyzing the biennials, museum exhibitions and residency programs, and reviews/interviews for Apaçık Radio.
* To learn conditions of participation in a single seminar, we would kindly ask you to send an e-mail to apply@curatingcontemporaryart.org address noting the required seminar details. Single seminar participation fee is 650 TL.
* The program will take place on the online platform Zoom.