Following the exhibition From the Cosmos to the Commons, a five years series of the City Curator Hamburg, and upon the invitation of curator Çelenk Bafra and the director of Istanbul Modern a selection of artworks will be presented at the 7th International Mardin Biennial, titled SKYground.

The Biennial will feature three works presented through local production and site-sensitive approaches: Iktómiwiŋ (A Vision of Standing Cloud) by KITE, Herstories by Małgorzata Mirga-Tas, and Tarot by Xul Solar. Each project engages with Mardin’s cultural heritage and unfolds through collaborations with local institutions.

This invitation opens a space to reconsider sustainability in public art. Rather than focusing on the circulation of objects, the project emphasizes the mobility of ideas: minimizing transport and insurance costs while prioritizing local, ecologically conscious production. It proposes a careful balance between guest and host, fostering collaboration and connection over competition, and moving beyond what Aby Warburg described as a “grenzpolizeiliche Befangenheit” (border-policing mentality).

At its core lies the conviction that art and knowledge should circulate transnationally while remaining grounded in local contexts – attentive to ecology, community, and place. In a time marked by overlapping conflicts and extractive systems, public art becomes a means to reimagine our relationships with the planet and with one another, across and despite our differences.

Curated by Çelenk Bafra
Opening Programme: 15–18.5.
Closing Weekend: 20–21.6.