Nicolas Bourriaud to curate 2019 Istanbul Biennial

Nicolas Bourriaud has been appointed curator of the 2019 Istanbul Biennial. The French curator and theorist, author of the influential 1998 book Relational Aesthetics, will organize the sixteenth edition of the event. Bourriaud currently serves as director of Montpellier Contemporain and previously led the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris from 2011 to 2015. He co-founded the Palais de Tokyo in Paris and curated the 2014 Taipei Biennial. The Istanbul Biennial will run from 14 September to 10 November 2019. Organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts with sponsorship from Koç Holding, Bourriaud described Istanbul as a significant crossing point in today's global political climate marked by binary thought. He aims to create an exhibition that responds to our historical moment. Bourriaud has contributed to ArtReview, writing on topics including the anatomy of power and educational shifts in art.