Türkiye pavilion to host Gulsun Karamustafa at Venice Biennale

ISTANBUL (AA) – The Türkiye Pavilion at this year’s Venice Biennale will host an installation by contemporary Turkish artist Gulsun Karamustafa, the organizers announced on Thursday.

Curated by Esra Sarigedik Oktem, the exhibition will take place at the Türkiye Pavilion located at its long-term venue at the Arsenale, which is secured for use through 2034, said the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) in a statement.

The 60th edition of the famed art exhibit, titled Foreigners Everywhere, is taking place between April 20 and Nov. 24, 2024, and will be curated by Brazil’s Adriano Pedrosa.

Citing Bige Orer, director of the Istanbul Biennial and IKSV Contemporary Art Projects, the statement said: “We have a longstanding working relationship with Gulsun Karamustafa and we are thrilled to work with her in developing the exhibition for the Türkiye Pavilion.”

Noting that Karamustafa is one of the leading figures of the contemporary art scene in Türkiye, Orer said: “Her work has traveled and found its significance in many different parts of the world.”

“Her layered artistic practice engages with the most pressing issues of our time such as displacement and migration, exile and ethnicity, sexuality, and gender, and many other socio-political issues which will have a dialogue with the conceptual framework of the main exhibition,” she added.

Based in Istanbul and Berlin, Karamustafa was born in 1946 in the Turkish capital Ankara. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, the internationally acclaimed artist has been using varied techniques, mediums, and methods to create paintings, installations, ready-mades, assemblages, photos, and videos.