Istanbul’s leading art fair celebrates 20 years with landmark edition

ISTANBUL

The 20th edition of the Contemporary Istanbul art fair will take place from Sept. 24-28 at Tersane Istanbul, marking two decades of the city’s most prominent contemporary art event.

This year’s special edition will feature highlights such as the “BMW Art Car” collection, including the very first vehicle designed by Alexander Calder 50 years ago, and the most recent addition by Julie Mehretu, unveiled just last year.

The fair’s international reach will be evident through a curated selection of museum and gallery collaborations, including Hamburg’s UBS Digital Art Museum, London’s Phillips Auction House, Tokyo’s Palais de Tokyo, Minato’s Mori Art Museum and New York’s Asia Society. Other notable participants include the Sigg Art Foundation from Le Castellet, AWITA from London and the Art Foundation from Sharjah.

With a dedicated “Focus America” section, this year’s fair will spotlight the contemporary art scene in New York. Institutions such as LACMA, MAC Montreal, Brooklyn Museum, MET, MoMa and the Art Gallery of Ontario will be represented by their directors and delegates, fostering potential new partnerships among collectors, curators and art professionals.

Running concurrently, the “Golden Horn Light Festival,” organized by the Contemporary Istanbul Foundation, will illuminate the city’s historic shoreline with 14 light and digital art installations. The festival will include eight site-specific works and six specially commissioned pieces by emerging artists.

Complementing the fair, the CIF Dialogues conference series will be held, exploring Istanbul’s evolving cultural, technological and geographical role in the global art world. Key speakers include Jennifer Stockman, honorary president of the Guggenheim Museum; Anne Pasternak, director of the Brooklyn Museum; and Ahu Antmen, director of the Sakıp Sabancı Museum.