Rethinking Istanbul Biennial In The Process of Globalization

During the 1980s and 1990s, the world witnessed a radical change in which globalization diminished the power of the nation-state and shifted that impetus to a certain number of “Global Cities.” London, New York and Tokyo appeared to be the first of these cities and they acted as the heart of the new commercial and financial geography. In order to further strengthen their status, these cities organized transnational cultural events such as fairs, festivals and biennials. Those events have been assumed as a driving force behind other political, economic and financial activities in the era of globalization. Since the 1980s, Istanbul has emerged as a candidate for a new global city at the eastern frontier of Europe. Thus, with the encouragement of the government, the private sector has begun to organize several large-scale cultural events in order to reshape the city as a global city and re-present the nation with a more European outlook. This is in keeping with the desire to facilitate Turkey’s EU accession process and attract global commercial activities. The Istanbul Biennial is one of the most important of these cultural initiatives. Thus, this research will scrutinize the Istanbul Biennial within this framework. The main premise will be: “The organization of the Istanbul Biennial aims to attract global financial activities, enable the political aspirations of the city and therefore transform the city into a global one.