Palestinian voices echo through Istanbul Biennial opening

Welcome to Al-Monitor Istanbul.

This week, we delve into the 18th edition of Istanbul Biennial — “The Three-Legged Cat” —  which has just arrived in town with a roar amid the grim state of global affairs including wars, injustices and abuse.

Backed up with a strong public program, it runs free of charge from Sept. 20 to Nov. 23 across eight venues. Consider this slightly longer newsletter our first take and a guide to what not to miss in the weeks ahead.

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Thanks for reading,

Nazlan (@NazlanEr on X)

P.S. Have tips on Istanbul’s culture scene? Send them my way at nertan@al-monitor.com.

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1. Leading the week: Middle East at heart

Khalil Rabah’s “Red Navigapparate” at the French Orphanage, enjoyed by the biennial’s namesakes (IKSV photo)

It was no accident that the opening press conference of the 18th Istanbul Biennial, the crown jewel of the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV), unfolded beside the work of Khalil Rabah, the Palestinian artist born in Jerusalem and based in Ramallah, who could not come to the biennial. His installation, “Red Navigapparate,” lines up a hundred red barrels, each cradling a sapling of olive, citrus or nut tree, to form a provisional nursery alongside a water channel and pallet jack on marble, transforming the orphanage garden into a charged landscape of displacement and resilience.

“The Three-Legged Cat,” a salute to self-preservation and futurity, began with curator Christine Tohme’s searing message on the Middle East. “Every day, we are witnessing the most hideous crimes of the world,” said the Lebanese curator, adding that the biennial was conceived and presented at a time when entire lifeworlds were being annihilated before our eyes. “We have to stop the genocide in Palestine; we cannot lie down on our cushions while someone is butchered for asking for the right to exist and to their land.”

Mona Marzouk’s venue-specific installation at Galer 77 (IKSV photo)

Her words also resonate across the works. The biennial carries a strong Middle Eastern backbone, from Gaza City-born Sohail Salem’s raw notebook drawings in blue ink, “Diaries from Gaza,” to Egyptian artist Mona Marzouk’s crimson works reflecting on human pursuit for shelter on one hand and descent into violence and domination on the other. Iraqi artist Ali Eyal mourns childhood traumas in “From Then on, Doves Scare Me,” while Lebanese painter Sata Manoukian renders the civil war’s urban life with empty armchairs and exasperated figures.

City Pulse Istanbul will return to the biennial in our next editions, with more from the eight venues straddling Beyoglu and Karakoy. For now, mark these standouts: Turkish artist Ipek Duben’s dollhouse “Children of Paradise” at the Galata Greek School; Lebanese artist Marwan Rechmaoui’s wooden horses and swings at Zihni Han; and Chilean artist Pilar Quinteros’ dismembered workers at Meclis-i Mebusan 35, a visceral critique of capitalism.

Date: Until Nov. 23

2. Word on the street: Cecconi’s, Soho House Istanbul

Cool marble at Cecconi (Courtesy of Soho House)

Behind the doors of the 19th-century Palazzo Corpi, Cecconi’s is a courtyard gem shaded by olive trees, equally suited to brunches or twilight dinners. The menu leans northern Italian: chilled cucumber and melon soup, fusilli with kale and basil pesto, stracciatella-laced pastas and carpaccios, plus wood-oven pizzas.

It also happens to be the only restaurant open to the public at Soho House, the members-only club and hotel with an illustrious history. Built for Genoese merchant Ignazio Corpi, the palazzo was purchased in 1907 by US Ambassador John G.A. Leishman with his own funds. He later persuaded Congress to reimburse him — legend has it via a late-night poker game. The building served for decades as the US Consulate before Soho House moved in.

Location: Evliya Celebi Mahallesi, Meşrutiyet cad. No:56, Beyoglu

3. Istanbul diary

Necla Ruzgar’s “Backbone of Mountains” at Merdiven Art Space (Courtesy of Galeri Nev)

“Too many openings, too little time,” lamented Evrim Aktug, the dean of culture writers. We’re adding a few more standout exhibitions to those highlighted last week in the Biennial’s parallel program:

• Galeri Nev hosts “As Thin as a Promise,” a roll call of 22 women ceramicists, at Merdiven Art Space. Till Oct. 18.
• SANATORIUM hosts Emirati artist Farah Al Qasimi’s first solo exhibition in Istanbul, “Desert Hyacinth.” Curated by Ulya Soley, it features large-scale photographs, layered installations, and her own sound compositions on the persistence of life under hostile conditions. Till Oct. 26.
• PILEVNELI stages Erdogan Zumrutoglu’s “Modules for the UNKNOWN Student Monument” at 19th-century Surp Yerrortutyun Armenian Catholic Church (through Nov. 15). Works inspired by Turkish poet Ece Ayhan’s 1970 poem of the same name, which speaks of youth outrage and political resistance. Till Nov. 15.