First Chapter of the 18th Istanbul Biennial Opens: Exploring Self and the City’s Architectural Fabric

ByNews Editorial Team Hours
Home » News » First Chapter of the 18th Istanbul Biennial Opens: Exploring Self and the City’s Architectural Fabric

The first chapter of the 18th Istanbul Biennial has opened. It features contemporary artworks within several historic buildings in Beyoğlu and Karaköy. The biennial creates an experience where art and architecture intersect. It highlights the relationship between the city’s structures and their surrounding urban environment, showcasing the impact of the Istanbul Biennial in this dynamic context.

A bustling crowd gathers under the arched entrance of a historic building during the opening of the 18th Istanbul Biennial, with a large banner reading “Üçayaklı Kedi / The Three-Legged Cat” visible in the background.
The opening night of the 18th Istanbul Biennial drew a vibrant crowd into the heart of Beyoğlu, where art spills into the city’s historic architecture. Under the warm glow of vintage street lamps, visitors gathered beneath the arches of Muradiye Han — one of the biennial’s eight venues — to celebrate The Three-Legged Cat, this year’s thought-provoking theme. Art and urban life collided beautifully, turning the streets into a living gallery.

Architectural and Artistic Venues

The biennial spans eight sites, each representing a different layer of Istanbul’s architectural history. These include schools, galleries, and former commercial buildings repurposed for art. Each venue carries a unique architectural identity, from historic landmarks to transformed industrial spaces. This allows artworks to directly engage with the built environment, as curated by the Istanbul Biennial.

A large, dreamlike sculpture installation with wooden limbs and colorful accents sprawls across a pink floor inside a grand historic hall with ornate ceilings and patterned tiles.
Inside the majestic Galata Greek School, art takes on a playful, almost surreal form. Wooden sculptures with whimsical shapes and bold colors dance across a soft pink floor, transforming the historic space into a living dreamscape. The contrast between the building’s classical architecture and the contemporary, organic forms creates a quiet dialogue — where history doesn’t just host art… it dances with it.
  • Galata Greek School: Wide corridors and long galleries provide a backdrop for complex installation works.
  • Muradiye Han: A building inspired by the First National Architecture Movement, now hosting artworks that interact with the building’s history and previous functions.
  • Galeri 77: A former storage building reflecting the city’s industrial character. It offers a three-dimensional space for works exploring structure, technology, and environment.
  • Elhamra Han: One of Istanbul’s earliest theatre halls, adapted for multiple uses while retaining its historic character. It now hosts interactive artworks.
  • Garden of the Former French Orphanage: An open outdoor space accommodating large-scale installations that engage with land, plants, and temporary spatial arrangements.
A peach-colored building facade with mysterious, backward-script text painted across its curved wall — flanked by stone ornaments and overlooking a red-tiled roof, blending history, language, and urban art.
A quiet rebellion of language: words written backward on a peach-hued wall in Istanbul’s Beyoğlu, as if whispering secrets only the city can read. The script — poetic, cryptic, almost ancient — turns architecture into a canvas for thought. Behind it, a half-finished building and ornate stone finials frame the scene — reminding us that even in transition, beauty and meaning find their way to the surface.

Art and Architectural Interaction

The artworks range from large-scale installations interacting with exterior spaces. These include barrels planted with olive and citrus trees. There are also immersive interior pieces that respond to the buildings’ layouts and visitor movement. Each venue allows artists to explore the boundaries between mobility, permanence, and history, reflecting the creative spirit of the Istanbul Biennial. Architectural elements enhance the meaning of the artworks.

A bold, terracotta-colored architectural sculpture with arches and textured surfaces stands on a circular platform in a gallery with mint-green walls and wooden floors — evoking ancient ruins reimagined through modern art.
It feels like stepping into a dream where ancient temples meet playful modernism. This sculptural piece — raw, earthy, and full of architectural rhythm — sits proudly in the center of a serene gallery, as if it’s been unearthed from time itself. The soft green walls and warm wood floor don’t compete… they cradle it. A quiet monument to imagination, built not for worship — but for wonder.

Architecture as a Sensory Experience

Every venue demonstrates architectural adaptation and creative reuse, where historic structures support contemporary art. Long corridors, open courtyards, and interior halls carry the stories of former uses. They immerse visitors in experiences that reveal the dialogue between human presence, architecture, and the urban environment, enriched by the Istanbul Biennial’s innovative approach.

✦ ArchUp Editorial Insight

The article presents the 18th Istanbul Biennial as a comprehensive architectural experience. Historic buildings engage directly with contemporary installations. Images reveal a variety of materials, from stone and brick to wood and open courtyards. Natural light highlights architectural details and adds visual depth. Yet, while the exhibition creates a strong sensory experience, engagement with the surrounding urban context remains limited. This raises questions about the potential for deeper architectural-city interaction. Nonetheless, the biennial provides a nuanced understanding of the relationship between building and art. It also shows how temporary interventions can reinterpret historic spaces innovatively, as seen throughout the Istanbul Biennial.

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