Istanbul Biennial Production and Research Programme

Since its foundation in 1987, the Istanbul Biennial has been a meeting and encounter platform for artists and art professionals from Turkey and abroad through its exhibitions, events, and programmes. Building on this experience, the Istanbul Biennial is launching a programme focusing on research and production beginning from October 2018.

The Istanbul Biennial Production and Research Programme consists of a series of consultancies, workshops, and seminars for artists and researchers who wish to conduct theoretical, practical, individual or collective work in art and art related fields. The programme aims to provide technical and intellectual support in an environment of constructive criticism, enabling participants from various disciplines to undertake in-depth research and production in the field of art.

While the programme supports the personal development of its participants through the facilitation of necessary time, space, resources, opportunities, and access to people required for art production and research, it also encourages unpredicted encounters, interdisciplinary productions, joint projects and new collaborations that may take place. During this process, it is intended that the participants become familiar with basic methodologies and interact with creative and conceptual methods outside their respective fields of expertise. Furthermore, the programme is designed to adapt dynamically every year according to the invited participants’ preferences regarding their themes and mediums, and general needs and requirements.

Some of the meetings to take place under the Istanbul Biennial Production and Research Programme are planned to be open to public.

The applications will be open to artists and researchers from Turkey between 16 July and 30 August 2018, for the first period of October 2018 – March 2019. The programme is intended to be opened for international participants in its forthcoming reiterations.

Application Procedure

Fifteen persons to participate in the programme will be selected by the advisory board from submissions made to the open call. During the evaluation process, it will be taken into consideration that the participants attending the programme together for six months represent different disciplines and various fields of expertise. This preference aims to enable productive discussions through group interaction and the opportunity to present each other with different points of view.

Advisory Board

The Advisory Board will be determining the participants for the programme, providing suggestions during the creation of content and periodically meeting with participants to exchange ideas on the progress of the programme. The Advisory Board will consist of experts from various disciplines and pedagogical backgrounds. The advisory board of the first year is composed of Gülçin Aksoy, Melis Behlil, Cevdet Erek, Borga Kantürk, Bige Örer, Erkan Özgen and Zeyno Pekünlü.

Programme Content

Consultancies

The participants’ advisors will be determined according to their research subjects and production methods. Participants will attend monthly meetings with their advisors for the duration of the programme.

Seminars and Workshops

Weekly seminars, lectures and workshops will be held with the participation of artists, curators and academicians from Turkey and abroad.

Production and Research Visits

Within the scope of the programme, visits will be organised in order to promote an acquaintance with cultural and artistic actors of cities outside Istanbul. In addition, collaboration with similar programmes in different geographies will take place to establish a broad and international network of interaction between artists and researchers.

Communal Workspace

Participants will be entitled to free access to a communal workspace where they can work together for six months on a daily basis, either individually or collectively.

Application Requirements

Submissions for the October 2018 – March 2019 period will be accepted June 16 through August 30, 2018. The Advisory Board will determine the names to be taken on the short list to be called for an interview in October. The final list of fifteen people who will participate in the programme will be finalised following one-on-one interviews.

The programme will be open to all artists working in any field of art and with any material or medium, and researchers from different fields who wish to undertake research in the field of art.

For its first year, the programme will only accept submissions from Turkey, yet it will be required of participants to be proficient in Turkish and English, as the programme will be partially in English.

It is preferable that the applicants have several years of active experience in the field they wish to study.

There will be at least one weekly lecture, seminar or workshop, and monthly face-to-face meetings with advisors during the programme. Regular attendance is required.

A limited number of stipends will be provided for participants living outside Istanbul for their living expenses during their stay in Istanbul.

Applicants are required to send the following files to ib.arastirma@iksv.org via e-mail. (Attachments should not exceed 15MB):

• A short resume containing information on the applicant’s educational background and work experience, including the contact details of the applicant, as well as information on exhibitions, events participated, published research, or articles
• A PDF portfolio that summarises your work no older than five years and not exceeding 15 pages (Portfolios may be visual or written depending on the applicant’s field; for film material, it may include online video links; for documents such as published writings it may contain links to articles or information on the published text.)
• A motivation letter that will not exceed 500 words, explaining why the applicant wants to participate in the programme and briefly describing the proposed project to be developed or research to be conducted
• The name, relation, e-mail address and phone number of two persons that may be a reference to the applicant

For further information about the programme and application process: ib.arastirma@iksv.org