The seventh edition of the Mardin Biennial, one of the most established contemporary art events in Türkiye, is set to take place from May 15 to June 21, 2026, bringing together artists, curators, and audiences in a city long shaped by layered histories and cultures.
Hosted by the Mardin Cinema Association, the biennial will be directed by Done Otyam and Hakan Irmak, with curatorial responsibility taken on by Celenk Bafra, the artistic director of Istanbul Modern, who has worked extensively with museums and art institutions across Türkiye and Europe. The advisory board comprises respected figures from the art and academic worlds, including Esra Alicavusoglu, Firat Arapoglu, Mehmet Said Aydin, Evin Sevgi Baran, and Paolo Colombo.
A biennial shaped by history, imagination, and place
Speaking at the press conference held in the Beyoglu district of Istanbul, director Hakan Irmak underlined that the Mardin Biennial has now completed 15 years since its foundations were laid in 2009, ahead of its first full edition in 2010. He framed Mardin not as a distant cultural periphery, but as a place where civilization and artistic expression have long intersected, positioning the city as both a historical reference point and an active platform for international dialogue.
The biennial, he noted, was conceived as a way of carrying what he described as a rising light from the east into wider national and global conversations.
