The 9th International İstanbul Biennial is organizing a panel in which speakers from İstanbul will talk about the significance of the İstanbul Biennial for the society and art here. Everyone interested in art and the biennial is invited to the event that will take place at Garanti Platfrom Contemporary Art Center on Wednesday, April 13th at 19:00 pm . The speakers are Charles Esche, Vasıf Kortun, Ali Akay, Fulya Erdemci, Orhan Esen, Korhan Gümüş and Mustafa Pancar.

The ninth biennial is in trouble. By looking outside the traditional Biennial venues in the historic peninsula, we created problems for ourselves from the start. Yet we knew we wanted to locate the exhibition in a part of the contemporary city not in its touristic heart. Now, we have lost our major space, the metro station in Şişhane, and we are still looking for replacements. Probably, we could brush all these difficulties under the carpet, find another two or three sites and open with a smile in September. Before the crisis is past we want to open up some of our questions to public view. They concern the development of this city, the available support for arts, the ways the art community here functions and whether art can work as a public site for discussing these issues.

Therefore, we will call a meeting on Wednesday 13th,All those who are concerned about art in this city and have opinions about the biennial are invited. We want to find out whether and in what ways the biennial can be useful to more than the curators and artists involved. Granted, the İstanbul Biennial has taken its cue from globalisation by using sites of privatisation, historical buildings, and positioning itself for "European" reception. Granted, that in the competition of mega-cities, the biennial plays a role as well and serves cultural tourism. Yet we believe it is possible to use the biennial to posit another option for İstanbul, s a place that does not invade or incorporate, but embraces. It is a proposal stemming largely from a historical responsibility to bring things together and make a space to share without bowing to the free market society. It is about what we can rescue and how can start anew. That is what we want to discuss with others here in the light of our experiences to date.

We will ask a number of speakers from İstanbul to talk briefly about whether and how the İstanbul Biennial has been important to the art and society here. Following these we would like to discuss the following questions:

For whom is the biennial important?
What is it's relationship to gentrification?
How is privatisation and economic development changing the art scene in İstanbul?
Why is there so little state and city support?
What are the political agendas that support or damage art here?
Can we create new kinds of solidarity and even resistance through art?
Is art an appropriate field for the public investigation of these and other issues?

We imagine other questions will be raised from the floor. So, please join us at the Garanti Platform Contemporary Art Center at 19.00 pm, Wednesday 13th April 2005.