After wrapping up its first phase this past November, the 18th Istanbul Biennial is ending earlier than planned following the resignation of curator Christine Tohmé. According to a statement from the private Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), Tohmé stepped down “due to personal circumstances.”

Titled “The Three-Legged Cat,” the biennial drew on the metaphor of a limping yet resilient feline to explore narratives of healing and resistance surrounding urgent contemporary issues. It was originally set to unfold in three parts from 2025 to 2027, using this extended format to continuously respond to ever-changing sociopolitical and environmental conditions. More than 600,000 people attended the first leg, which took place across eight citywide venues.

The Lebanese curator was appointed to helm the exhibition in 2024, after a controversial leadership reshuffling that led to the event’s yearlong delay. In early 2023, the biennial’s advisory board had unanimously selected Defne Ayas to oversee the 18th edition before the İKSV reversed the decision. The revocation was widely attributed to Ayas’s 2015 curation of Turkey’s Venice Biennale pavilion thematizing the Armenian Genocide, which Turkey denies to this day. The foundation instead chose Iwona Blazwick, a member of the selection committee, to curate the event, but she resigned following backlash from the art community. 

Amid this abrupt news, the İKSV has announced that planning will begin soon for the 19th Istanbul Biennial in 2027. The curator of the forthcoming edition will be named this year. 

Annette Meier is an assistant editor at ArtAsiaPacific.