Eindhovenİstanbul
October 1, 2005 - January 29, 2006

Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven

The idea of Eindhovenİstanbul is to look at the growing phenomenon of the biennial through the eyes of a museum. The exhibition takes the İstanbul Biennial as a specific but exemplary model of a biennial and the Van Abbemuseum as a specific but exemplary model of a western European museum. By using the skills and traditions of one structure to investigate another, the exhibition aims to create a dialogue between the two major art contexts of the last 18 years.

Eindhovenİstanbul is an imaginary and imaginative location. It calls to mind an absurd combination of small and large, west and east, new and old. It combines a selection of key artworks drawn from the eight previous İstanbul Biennials with the collection of the museum. The works from 42 guest and over 30 collection artists include large-scale installations, video projections, sculpture, painting and drawing. Never seen together in this combination, the selected works make up for an imaginary collection from both Eindhoven and İstanbul. Together they create a new way to reflect on the development of art over the last 20 years and on the difference between the art museum and the biennial - two of the most important sites for the art of our own time.

As an exhibition that crosses borders, Eindhovenİstanbul will create a meeting point between different cultures in the expanded field of political and cultural discussions.

Eindhovenİstanbul is curated by Eva Meyer-Hermann and Charles Esche.

www.vanabbemuseum.nl