Istanbul Modern to host Artists’ Film International, Bienalsur programs

ISTANBUL

Istanbul Modern will host joint programs with Artists’ Film International (AFI) and Argentina-based Bienalsur, bringing international moving-image works to audiences between Dec. 23 and Jan. 16.

According to a statement from the museum, this marks the first time the international contemporary art network AFI — bringing together 17 art institutions form 15 countries — will be presented in the museum’s new building.

Curated by Nilay Dursun and Ümit Mesci, the selection will be screened at 2 p.m. in the Istanbul Modern Auditorium on Dec. 23, 26 and 30 in 2025, as well as Jan. 2, 6, 9, 13 and 16, 2026.

Within AFI, each participating institution selects a recent work by an artist from its region in line with a shared annual theme.

This year’s theme, “Dream States,” explores the transformative power of dreams as a space for reassessing the past and imagining alternative futures, bringing together perspectives from diverse geographies throughout the year via exhibitions and screening programs.

As part of the program, artists Ahmet Rüstem Ekici and Hakan Sorar will take part in a talk moderated by Istanbul Modern curator Ümit Mesci on Dec. 26, focusing on the impact of technology on video production.

Centered on the AFI-screened work “Gölet,” the discussion will examine how artificial intelligence is shaping creative processes and moving-image production amid a rapidly digitizing visual culture.

Meanwhile, a first-time collaboration with Bienalsur will run concurrently with AFI.

Visitors will be able to view Christian Boltanski’s video work “Mysteries,” commissioned by Bienalsur in 2017, on the museum’s mezzanine floor.

In the piece, three monumental metal trumpets installed ın a remote, windswept Patagonian coast recreate the ancient song of whales, carried by the wind toward the ocean.