Organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) and sponsored by 2007–2036 Biennial Sponsor Koç Holding, the 19th Istanbul Biennial will be curated by LIU Ding and Carol Yinghua LU and will run from 18 September to 14 November 2027.

LIU Ding and Carol Yinghua LU have worked collaboratively as a research and curatorial team since 2007. They were the artistic directors for the 8th Yokohama Triennale (2024). They have curated many shows, including: Trans-Southeast Asia Triennial: Sounds as Silence: The Academic Value of Life (2021), Anren Biennale: Crossroads (2017), Shenzhen Sculpture Biennale (2012), Little Movements: Self-practice in Contemporary Art I\II\III (2011 in OCAT Shenzhen, China; 2013 in MUSEION, Bolzano, Italy and, 2015 in ACC, Gwangju, Korea), and Liberation (2010). Since 2011, they have curated a series of thematic and solo exhibitions based on their ongoing research on the resonance of socialist realism in the historical formation of contemporary art in China.

Regarding their appointment as curators of the 19th Istanbul Biennial, Liu Ding and Carol Yinghua Lu state: ‘We are honoured to curate the 19th Istanbul Biennial, a platform long recognised for enabling the boldest of curatorial and artistic ambitions. Today, as we navigate a landscape of extreme political volatility and the pervasive influence of algorithmic technologies, art often finds itself in a state of “elsewhere” – obsessed with seeking external horizons to alleviate our deep-seated existential anxieties. The 19th edition calls for a dire shift in focus. We seek to move beyond reactive commentary and technological escapism to recognise and reclaim the primary agency of art and the individual. By confronting ourselves and the realities of our time, this biennial aims to restore the critical rigour and visceral greatness of ideas and art, creating a space to not just reimagine, but to actively build, a more sovereign and resilient future for artistic practice.’

The title, conceptual framework, venues and other details regarding the biennial will be announced in the coming months.

About the curators

LIU Ding

LIU Ding is an artist and a curator based in Beijing. His artistic and curatorial practice focuses on multiple viewpoints and modes of description, exploring a trajectory of discursive thoughts that connect the historical and the contemporary. His work seeks to broaden possibilities for a more complex understanding of the historical narrative of subjectivity in Chinese art.

Liu Ding has participated in biennales including Busan Biennale (2018), Yinchuan Biennale (2018), Istanbul Biennial (2015), Asia Pacific Triennial (2015), Prospect 3 New Orleans (2014), Shanghai Biennale (2014), Taipei Biennial (2012), Chinese Pavilion, 53rd Venice Biennial (2009), Media City Seoul (2008) and Guangzhou Triennale (2005). Since 2018, Liu Ding has been teaching exhibition display as a visiting professor in NABA Milan.

His work has been shown at numerous major art institutions, including M+ Museum (2025); Gwangju Museum of Art (2024); Castello di Rivoli, Turin (2020); MAK Austrian Museum of Applied Arts/Contemporary Art, Vienna (2019); The Haus der Kulturen der Welt (2018); Museum Fur Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg (2018); 4A, Sydney (2017); Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern (2016); Guandu Museum of Art, Taipei (2016); Para Site, Hong Kong (2016); Red Brick Museum, Beijing (2016); Frye Art Museum, Seattle (2016/2012); Museum Bonnefanten, Maastricht (2015) ; MOMA PS1, New York (2015); Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima (2015); Tate Modern, London (2013/2012); Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei (2012); Times Museum, Guangzhou (2012/2011); ZKM, Karlsruhe (2011); Iberia Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing (2008); PasquArt, Biel (2008); Arnolfini, Bristol (2008); Turner Contemporary, Kent (2008); São Paulo Museum of Art, São Paulo (2008); Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna (2007); Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo (2007); Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai, Shanghai (2006); Luggage Store Gallery, San Francisco (2006); Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul (2006); Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin (2006), and so on.

Carol Yinghua LU

Carol Yinghua LU is an art historian and a curator. She holds a Doctorate in art history from University of Melbourne. She is the director of Beijing Inside-Out Art Museum. She was the artistic director and senior curator of OCAT, Shenzhen (2012–2015), guest curator at Museion, Bolzano (2013) and the China researcher for Asia Art Archive (2005–2007). She has contributed to artist monologues, catalogues as well as a number of art journals, including e-flux journal, frieze, the Exhibitionist, Yishu, Flash Art, Contemporary, and so on. She was a contributing editor for frieze magazine (2008–2018), chief editor for Chinese edition of Yishu: Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art (2012–2013), co-founder and co-editor of Contemporary Art and Investment magazine (2007-2010). She received Yishu Awards for Critical Writing and Curating on Contemporary Chinese Art (2016).

She was a recipient of the ARIAH (Association of Research Institute in Art History) East Asia Fellowship (2017) and visiting fellow in the Asia-Pacific Fellowship Programme at the Tate Research Centre (2013). She was the co-artistic director of Gwangju Biennale (2012).

She has acted as a jury member for Hyundai Blue Prize Art + Tech (2022, 2021), Tokyo Contemporary Art Award (2022–2019), The Choi Foundation Prize for Contemporary Art (2022, 2021), Gallery Weekend Beijing Prize for Best Exhibition (2022, 2020–2017), Han Nefkens Foundation – Loop Barcelona Video Art Award Production (2024–2020), abC Art Book Award (2021), Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative (2019), Hugo Boss Asia (2019), International Award for Art Criticism (2014), the Future Generation Art Prize (2012), and the Golden Lion Award at Venice Biennale (2011).

19th Istanbul Biennial Overview

The 19th Istanbul Biennial is organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), with the sponsorship of 2007–2036 Biennial Sponsor Koç Holding and additional support from international partners and funding bodies. Press and professional previews will take place on 14–17 September, opening to the public between 18 September and 14 November 2027.

The Istanbul Biennial Advisory Board includes academic, critic and museum director Ahu Antmen; curator Lydia Gatundu Galavu; artist Gözde İlkin; researcher and curator Renan Laru-an, and curator and museum director Sally Tallant.

For information on the regulations regarding the advisory board and the method for the appointment of curator, please click here.