Curator and researcher Kevser Güler is appointed Istanbul Biennial Director. Güler will assume her position as of 15 January 2024.
Organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) and sponsored by 2007-2036 Biennial Sponsor Koç Holding, the 18th Istanbul Biennial, curated by Iwona Blazwick, will be held between 14 September-17 November 2024. The media preview of the biennial will be held on 10-13 September 2024 and professional preview on 12-13 September 2024.
About Kevser Güler
Kevser Güler worked for the Istanbul Biennial between 2007-2014. She was part of the founding team of the Cappadox Festival Contemporary Art Programme and its Associate Curator between 2015-2017. She conducted research on Arter’s collection between 2014-2019 and worked as Curator and Exhibitions Director at Yapı Kredi Culture and Arts from 2020 to 2021.
Based on researching and discussing the current conditions, possibilities and limitations of contemporary culture and art production, Kevser Güler’s curatorial work encompasses organising exhibitions and programmes in museums, art centres, galleries, rural and urban public spaces and non-art spaces, and extends to preparing publications. Her recent curatorial posts include ‘Together Fanzine,’ Beginning in the Middle, Artİstanbul Feshane (2023); They Were Just Constantly Flying In Circles, Çağla Köseoğulları, Sanatorium, Istanbul (2023); Sympathetic System, Karşı Sanat, Istanbul (2022); This Place, Yapı Kredi Culture and Arts (YKKS), Istanbul (2021-22); Coulisse: Hagop Ayvaz, A Chronicler of Theater, YKKS, Istanbul (2020-21); Meydan, Deniz Gül, YKKS, Istanbul (2020); Milat, Lale Müldür, YKKS, Istanbul (2020); On Celestial Bodies, Arter, Istanbul (2020-21); Rocks and Winds, Germs and Words, Kerem Ozan Bayraktar, Sanatorium, Istanbul (2019); Magnet and the Moon, Nilbar Güreş, Galerist, Istanbul (2019); Flesh and Bone, Bilsart and Operation Room, Istanbul (2019); Koloni, Kaos GL Derneği, Abud Efendi Konağı, İstanbul (2017); Ways Out from the World, Cappadox, Nevşehir (2017); Let Us Cultivate Our Garden, Cappadox, Nevşehir (2016) and Cappadocia Struck, Cappadox, Nevşehir (2015).
Born in 1983 in Izmir, Güler graduated from the Department of Industrial Engineering at Boğaziçi University and studied Philosophy at Galatasaray University. In 2021, she gave lectures on the history of exhibitions at Kadir Has University, and in the same year, she programmed and conducted workshops at Mişar Art that examined contemporary questions around exhibitions and artworks in the context of art ontology. Güler writes articles on contemporary art and visual culture and has also served as editor of independent publications and various exhibition publications. She was on the advisory board of Sanat Dünyamız journal between 2021-2023.
Güler took an active role as a consultant and jury member in many art programmes including SAHA Studio, Ankara Queer Art Residency, Lucy Art Residency, Berlin Senate Visiting Artist Programme, and took part in the advisory board of the Istanbul Biennial Production and Research Programme, where she mentored artists.
