8th International Istanbul Biennial: Poetic Justice

The 8th International Istanbul Biennial organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts and curated by Dan Cameron under the title “Poetic Justice” and hosted approximately 80 artists from 40 countries.

The artistic framework of the 8th International Istanbul Biennial formed around the concept of Poetic Justice. In proposing this phrase as the basis for a sustained investigation into the latest developments in contemporary art, the exhibition seeks to articulate an area of creative activity in which the seemingly opposing concepts of poetry and justice are brought into play together. The 8th Istanbul Biennial raised the questions of “What is justice? Why has justice emerged today as a question of pressing concern? Is justice possible in today’s globalized world?”, and with the title Poetic Justice which takes its cue from the literary device of the same name will reveal part of its underlying premise as an attempt to reconsider the wide stylistic breach between two different forms of art-making: one which takes as its subject the world and its affairs, a second one that address concerns which are more identified with the viewer’s inner life.

One of the most important objectives of the 8th International Istanbul Biennial was to create a lively and engaging public forum for responding to the ideas of artists whose work embodies a form of commitment to the goal of making art a vehicle for reconciling these two facets of life.