The Three-Legged Cat – 18th Istanbul Biennial

It is said that a cat has nine lives. A revered city dweller, the cat slips between gridlines, scavenges for the overlooked, and basks in the sun. Relying on wit and charm, it plays the unruly companion to neighbours and passers-by. Despite millennia of domestication, it preserves its wildness in times of peril.

Oscillating between play and danger, the cat has an anxious spirit that guides it through obscure passages. In a blasted landscape, this might cost it dearly, even a limb. The three-legged cat treads about silently, slinking in and out of view. Its altered gait carries the echoes of untold horror. Yet it still finds momentary respite, raising its gaze to the sky and questioning the planetary horizon. It practices new gymnastics, often faltering yet resolving with ceaseless grace. Following it off the beaten path allows us to mimic the cat’s mischief and make room for transformation, finding solace in the sun’s warmth.

Accelerated destruction, forced displacement, and runaway crises shatter all horizons and futurities. Facing an ever-tightening present, our bodies are forced to adopt multiple clocks – some speedy, some slow, others broken. Caught in a double movement, stuttering and hurtling – we strive to take another balancing step. We pivot, contort, disappear, and reappear like the cat. In search of our bearings, we reclaim rest, as well as those parts of ourselves that need to be preserved and restituted.

Resting on three legs from 2025 through 2027, the 18th Istanbul Biennial is thoroughly feline. It secures its footing by stretching in time, following a rhythm nourished by conversations, gymnastics, and incessant news streams. Its first leg, running from 20 September to 23 November 2025, presents an exhibition with over 40 artists, alongside performances, screenings, and talks centred on themes of self-preservation and futurity. The second leg, in 2026, is dedicated to creating an academy and collaborating with local initiatives on a series of public programmes. In 2027, the biennial leans on its third leg to rest, bringing together what has been encountered along the way through a final round of exhibitions and workshops.