Contemporary Istanbul, celebrating its 20th edition from September 24–28, 2025, brings together America's leading contemporary art galleries and art professionals with art lovers as part of the Focus America program.
Turkey's international contemporary art fair, Contemporary Istanbul, is bringing together leading galleries and art professionals in America with art lovers as part of the two-day Focus America program, sponsored by Akbank, for its 20th edition from September 24–28, 2025.
This year, guests include the Brooklyn Museum, the Guggenheim Museum, MoMA, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as various private collectors from New York, Seattle, and California.
In addition to Focus America, Contemporary Istanbul will also host new collaborations for collectors, curators, and art professionals with the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Toronto Art Biennale, the National Gallery of Canada, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and MAC Montreal.
Invited galleries include:
Amanita (New York),
Heft Gallery (New York),
Revolver Galería (New York/Buenos Aires),
Madison Gallery (California),
Leila Heller Gallery (New York/Dubai), and
Pontone/Friedrichs Pontone (New York/London), among other museum directors and representatives from distinguished art institutions.
This year, as part of Focus America, Contemporary Istanbul will showcase PASSAGE & MARITIME, a site-specific light installation by New York-based Peruvian-American artist Grimanesa Amorós.
Known for his large-scale sculptures utilizing LED technology, the artist's work, Passage, will be installed in the space that served as the passage hall of Çinili Han and the clock tower and lobby of The Peninsula Hotel.
Amorós's work occupies a location significant for Istanbul as a place of transition and change. Using red LED tubes, custom lighting arrays, and reflective surfaces, the artist evokes the emotional flows, memory, and time that play a role in shaping the city.
Passage reflects how architecture embraces movement and transformation, illuminating the dualities between departure and arrival, interior and exterior, past and present. Derived from the Latin word maritimus, meaning "pertaining to the sea," Maritime reflects the rhythmic movement of seas and waters, while simultaneously representing memory, movement, and light as physical, historical, and emotional tools that extend across vast geographies. Maritime focuses on the human spirit's desire for exploration—in the artist's words, "a romantic interest in the unknown."
On September 24–25, the Contemporary Istanbul Foundation (CIF) will host its annual talk program, CIF Dialogues 2025. This year's theme, "Dispersion: Istanbul and the Changing Art Landscape," explores how cultural actors are responding to geopolitical, technological, and societal issues.
Speakers include:
Jennifer Stockman (Emeritus President, Guggenheim Museum)
Anne Pasternak (Director, Brooklyn Museum)
Ahu Antmen (Director, Sabancı Museum)
Jean Cooney (Director, Times Square Arts; VP of Arts and Culture, Times Square Alliance)
Thomas Girst (Head of Global Cultural Affairs, BMW)
Pierre Sigg (Founder, Sigg Art Foundation)
Ulrich Schruath (Director, UBS Digital Art Museum) Panel discussions will explore topics such as the changing role of digital art, collecting practices outside the Western canon, architectural and cultural memory, and how cities can respond to artistic and social needs.
The 20th edition of ContemporaryIstanbul will once again take place at Tersane Istanbul, inviting us to reflect on two decades of artistic interaction. Rooted in this city at the intersection of East and West, the fair engages art lovers in Istanbul's renewed position as a growing hub for cultural connections and dynamic transformations.
CONTEMPORARY ISTANBUL'S 20TH EDITION DATES
September 24 Preview | Preview
September 25–28 General Admission | General Visit
Source: https://www.haberturk.com/contemporary-istanbul-20-yilinda-sanatin-degisen-manzarasina-odaklaniyor-3811318?page=4