The organisers of the Istanbul Biennial have named ArtIstanbul Feshane as the main venue for its 19th edition and opened a call for artists to propose work on the subject of war. The biennial, run by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, will take place from 18 September to 14 November 2027 under curators Liu Ding and Carol Yinghua Lu, with further venues still to be announced.

The open call, which runs from 19 October to 22 November 2026, invites artists from Turkey and abroad, working in any discipline, to submit proposals that deepen one strand of the curators' research: how art can address life under extreme conditions. The invitation text argues that art cannot end wars or resolve their causes, but can preserve space for dissent, doubt and imagined alternatives, and can hold in view what official accounts leave out.

Applicants are asked to submit a proposal of no more than 3,500 characters plus a portfolio, in English or Turkish, through the foundation's online application system. Selected artists will be invited to discuss their proposals further in person or online. The biennial's broader conceptual framework, covering further lines of inquiry beyond the war theme, is expected to be announced in December 2026.

The announcement marks a fresh chapter for an institution whose recent history has been unsettled: the 18th edition's planned multi-year arc was cut short, and the 19th edition will now overlap with its aftermath. Choosing Feshane, a historic former fez factory on the Golden Horn that Istanbul has redeveloped as a cultural site, gives the 2027 edition a prominent central base as its curators build the programme.