Şener Özmen in participating to the 9th International İstanbul Biennial with a publication entitled İstanbul Guide. The intention of the artist is to recreate the contents of conventional İstanbul guides which address tourists with helpful practical information, from the point of view or an artist who visits İstanbul only within the pretext of exhibitions. As the artist puts it: "ISTANBUL GUIDE's linguistic setup feeds from my choice of Plastic-Narration by large. I will wait for my reader to ask 'where is this İstanbul?" Presenting İstanbul and "all its conventional damages" as a "plastic-narration" through subverting the standard city guide format, Şener Özmen's guide is a striking book that ranges from traditional calligraphy to ceramics, from interior design to archaeology, from Labor Day to Tarlabaşı, from İstiklal Avenue to army gear, from the art of painting to imaginary lives of celebrity-icons who have visited İstanbul throughout history and stayed in İstanbul hotels such as Hemingway, Agatha Christie, Le Corbusier, Pierre Loti, Lord Byron, Adam Mickiewicz, Florance Nightingale. "İstanbul Guide" will be available for sale at the biennial venues.

'The guide in your hands brings forth the matter with its main lines. The essence of the matter is this: the untimely death of our contact in İstanbul prompted procedures that can only be described as 'urgent' concessions to our artistic stance (I'm bound to add that this hasn't been a coincidence). Despite these concessions, and using the influence of our former contact, we attempted to find a new contact who could put into circulation in İstanbul (and further West) the several works we had produced. But we couldn't. As for me, I have neither the time nor the courage to consider (and say) where I'd gone wrong. I can see that my men really suffer defeat and I pass my time (meant for consoling them) reminiscing on the fine days of the past (exhibitions and visits) and consuming two packs of cigarettes (each containing 40).'