Exhibiting Contemporaneity: Turkish Art in International Biennials, 1956–1992

This dissertation examines the representation of postwar and contemporary Turkish art in international biennials from 1956 to 1992, investigating how Turkish artists and curators navigated the global art landscape during the Cold War. It focuses on Turkey’s participation in landmark transatlantic biennials such as Venice, São Paulo, and Paris, alongside regional biennials in Alexandria, Tehran, and Belgrade, situating Turkish artistic practices within broader frameworks of geopolitical dynamics, cultural diplomacy, and national identity. Biennials, as incubators of contemporary art, provided Turkish artists with unique avenues to engage in global dialogues while maintaining an identity deeply rooted in local narratives and layered histories. By framing biennials as a pivotal nexus of artistic mobility, encounter, and exchange, this study demonstrates how Turkish art simultaneously responded to international trends and articulated distinct cultural narratives. Foregrounding Turkey’s specific geopolitical and cultural position, the dissertation explores how major political events, including the 1960 and 1980 military coups, influenced cultural policies and shaped artistic production. It also considers the establishment of the Istanbul Biennial within the context of neoliberal globalization and the privatization of cultural infrastructures, marking a transformative period for the Turkish art scene. This juncture saw a move away from the authority of official art institutions, the rise of curatorial authorship, and the emergence of new artistic discourses and materials, aligning with global developments in contemporary artistic practices. Highlighted as a watershed moment, the Istanbul Biennial introduced new exhibitionary forms for syncretic displays of global contemporary art and reflected the post-Cold War evolution of biennials into platforms for critical discourse and cross-cultural exchange, underscoring the curator’s emergence as an authorial figure within the Turkish art world. By situating Turkish biennial participation at the intersection of national, regional, and global Cold War contexts, this dissertation adopts a transregional perspective as its central methodological framework to analyze exhibition histories. Ultimately, it demonstrates how biennials served as transformative spaces for contemporary art, linking national narratives to global prominence and fostering cultural resonance during a period of profound transition from modern to contemporary artistic paradigms.