Istanbul Modern Hosts Artists’ Film International and BIENALSUR

The collaborations with Artists’ Film International (AFI) and Argentina-based BIENALSUR will be on view at Istanbul Modern from 23 December 2025 to 16 January 2026. Continuing its international partnerships that expand the field of moving-image art, Istanbul Modern welcomes both AFI and BIENALSUR during the same period this year.

This marks the first time that Istanbul Modern hosts the global contemporary art network Artists’ Film International in its new building. This year’s program is presented in partnership with 17 art institutions from 15 countries.

Curated by Nilay Dursun and Ümit Mesci, the screening program will be presented at the Istanbul Modern Auditorium on December 23, 26, and 30, and January 2, 6, 9, 13, 16, 2026.

Initiated in 2008 under the leadership of Whitechapel Gallery, the AFI program has continued since 2024 under the coordination of Forma, another London-based institution. Each participating museum is invited to select a recently produced work by an artist from its region, in line with that year’s shared theme. These selections, bringing together perspectives from different geographies, are presented to audiences throughout the year in exhibition or screening formats.

 This Year’s Theme: Dream States

This year’s program explores the transformative power of dreaming as a space for reflecting on the past and imagining alternative futures. Delving into the expanses of “Dream States,” the theme investigates the dynamic relationship between the personal and the political. Through the works of participating artists, “Dream States” offers a range of proposals on how this interaction can act as a catalyst for change.

From AI-generated images and analog footage to videos that transform archival material and works of animation, a wide range of approaches find a place within the selection. Spanning wildlife and natural history museums, mythic figures and historical realities, art history and the transformation of tradition, the program offers insight into the distinct perspectives of participating artists. Audiences encounter dystopian scenes, mythological narratives, the depths of memory, and imagined futures.

2025 Guest Artists: Ahmet Rüstem Ekici and Hakan Sorar
 To date, Istanbul Modern has contributed to the Artists’ Film International program with works by Ali Kazma, İnci Eviner, Sefer Memişoğlu, Bengü Karaduman, Burak Delier, Vahap Avşar, Zeyno Pekünlü, Cengiz Tekin, Pelin Kırca, Senem Gökçe Oğultekin, Ergin Çavuşoğlu, and Sena Başöz.

In 2025, the artist duo Ahmet Rüstem Ekici and Hakan Sorar – whose works are part of the Istanbul Modern collection – will take part in the program with their 2023 work “The Pond,” which will be shown both at Istanbul Modern and at the program’s international partner institutions at the museum’s invitation. 

Ahmet Rüstem Ekici and Hakan Sorar’s AI-generated video and sound work “Pond” (2023) explores transformation, memory, and the relationship between humans and nature. Inspired by the Seyitömer Libation Vessels that have survived for 5,000 years and the frogs migrating to the Palazoğlu Pond, the video creates a world in which natural cycles and cultural motifs intertwine. The work invites viewers into a reality where the boundaries between fiction and documentary are indistinguishable.

About Ahmet Rüstem Ekici and Hakan

Trained in interior architecture and engineering, Ahmet Rüstem Ekici and Hakan Sorar bring together art, technology, and architecture in works that focus on the body, space, and optical perception. Interpreting the stories carried into the present by archaeological artifacts through digital visualization techniques, the artists delve into the relationship between space and the body, questioning the boundaries between the digital and physical worlds. Through the possibilities offered by technological developments, Ekici and Sorar aim to offer audiences a framework rich in conceptual and intellectual depth.

To date, Ekici and Sorar have exhibited their works at numerous international art institutions and platforms, including Istanbul Modern, the Mardin Biennial Invited, the SACO Biennial (Chile), the Thessaloniki Queer Arts Festival (Greece), and Yarat Contemporary (Azerbaijan).

Participating Artists

The other artists in the program and the institutions that have invited them are as follows: from Afghanistan, Abdul Hamid Mandgar (CCAA in EXiLe, Frankfurt); from Germany, Anca Benera and Arnold Estefan (n.b.k, Berlin); from Norway, Anette Gellein (Tromsø Kunstforening, Tromsø); from India, Babu Eshwar Prasad (Project 88, Mumbai); from the Philippines, Cocoy Lumbao (MCAD, Manila); from Jordan, Dalia Al Kury (mmag foundation, Amman); from Ireland, Elinor O'Donovan (Crawford Art Gallery, Cork); from the United States, Heesoo Kwon (LACE, Los Angeles); from Belgium, Isabelle Nouzha (argos centre for audiovisual arts, Brussels); from Scotland, Kialy Tihngang (Tramway, Glasgow); from Argentina, Melisa Zulberti (Fundación Proa, Buenos Aires); from Lithuania, Mykolas Valantinas (CAC, Vilnius); from Italy, Raffaela Naldi Rossano (GAMeC, Bergamo); from Serbia, Sanja Anđelković (Cultural Centre of Belgrade, Belgrade); and from the United Kingdom, Sin Wai Kin (Forma and Southwark Park Galleries, London).

 BIENALSUR at Istanbul Modern for the First Time

This year, Istanbul Modern hosts its first collaboration with the Argentina-based BIENALSUR, presented to visitors simultaneously with AFI. By bringing together contemporary art from across the world, since 2017, BIENALSUR aims to offer audiences a broad perspective focused on artistic production from regions that are less represented on a global scale.

At Istanbul Modern, visitors can see Christian Boltanski’s video “Mysteries” – commissioned by BIENALSUR in 2017 – on the museum’s mezzanine foyer. In “Mysteries”, Boltanski installs three monumental metal trumpets on a desolate, windswept coastline overlooking the ocean near Bahía Bustamante in Argentina’s Patagonian region. Activated by the wind, these trumpets echo the ancient songs of whales. In this sound installation, Boltanski interprets nature’s power and continuity, independent of human intervention. Recorded in real time, “Mysteries” transports viewers across geographies.