The programme of the first Istanbul Design Biennial is announced
istanbuldesignbiennial.iksv.org
The Istanbul Design Biennial, organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) under the co-sponsorship of Eren Holding, Koray Group of Companies, Vestel and VitrA, will be held between 13 October–12 December 2012.
The biennial adopted the theme “Imperfection” at the suggestion of Mr. Deyan Sudjic, a member of the Istanbul Design Biennial Advisory Board and the Director of the Design Museum in London. The curators of the Istanbul Design Biennial Emre Arolat and Joseph Grima will present two independent approaches by interpreting the biennial theme separately. The exhibitions, exploring a wide range of fields from urban to architecture, industrial, graphic, fashion, new media design, and all relevant creative products and projects, will be at Istanbul Museum of Modern Art and Galata Greek Primary School while the biennial events will spread throughout the city.
The exhibition curated by Emre Arolat “Musibet: the Aestheticization of Context and Anti-Context in Design along the Axis of the Grand Transformation” will take place in Istanbul Modern. Under two main headings, “Transformation” and “Anti-Context”, Arolat will question urban transformation, public housing projects, and the social tension created by these in contemporary Istanbul by comparing them to other examples in the world, and explore ideas by local and global actors, newly accepted universals, changes in new technologies, and parallels between architectural and fashion design.
Curator Joseph Grima’s exhibition at Galata Greek Primary School will be titled “Adhocracy”, the opposite of bureaucracy. Grima aims to turn his exhibition into a stage for the current revolutionary changes in the design world, considering Istanbul Design Biennial as a laboratory rather than an exhibition platform. Starting out with the concept that final user is a part of the design and manufacture processes, the exhibition will have a dynamic, complex, and innovative structure, challenging the traditional relations between designer, user, manufacturer, and slow bureaucratic processes.
The deadline for applications to the Istanbul Design Biennial exhibitions is 2 June 2012.
SPECIAL PROJECT WITH UNIVERSITIES
As part of its educational activities, the Istanbul Design Biennial cooperated with 66 departments of various universities in Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir. In 2011–2012 academic year, urban design, architecture, industrial design, new media design, and fashion departments of universities will organise workshops, competitions, and special projects within the biennial theme. The outcomes of the projects will be exhibited in the faculty buildings.
