CIF DIALOGUES

Disrupted Coordinates: Istanbul and the Shifting Landscape of Art

On the 20th anniversary of Contemporary Istanbul, CIF Dialogues 2025 brings together artists, curators, architects, collectors, and cultural leaders to ask: 

What happens when cultural, institutional, or geographical coordinates are disrupted? 

Can Istanbul offer a unique model for resilience and reinvention?

Will digital art define the next two decades in art and culture?
 

This year’s program is not only a commemoration—it is an active inquiry into what the next 20 years of artistic practice might look like, locally and globally.


September 24

13:00 – Opening Keynote Speech
Speaker: Jennifer Stockman – President Emeritus, Guggenheim Museum


13:30–14:30 – Panel 1: Making Space for the Public
Speakers: 

  • Jean Cooney - Director, Times Square Arts; VP of Arts and Culture, Times Square Alliance
  • Han Tümertekin - Founder, Tümertekin Architects
  • Anlam de Coster - Artistic Director, Zeyrek Çinili Hamam
  • Mehmet Kalyoncu - Founder, ION

Moderator: Piero Tomassoni – Founder, Artvisor


14:30–15:00 – Panel 2: In Conversation with Marina Abramović (Remote)
Speakers: 

  • Marina Abramović - Artist
  • Stefanie de Regel – Director, TAEX


15:00–15:45 – Panel 3: 50 Years of the Art Car
Speakers: 

  • Thomas Girst – Global Head of Cultural Engagement, BMW
  • Hakan Tiftik – CEO, Borusan Otomotiv, BMW
  • Ali Güreli – Founder and Chairperson, Contemporary Istanbul


15:45–16:30 – Panel 4: Outside the Axis: Collecting Beyond the Western Canon
Speakers: 

  • Pierre Sigg – Collector; Founder, Sigg Art Foundation
  • Pierre-Christian Brochet – Collector; Patron of Russian and Eastern European Contemporary Art

September 25

13:00–14:00 – Panel 6: The Asia Pivot, Artnet News
Speakers: 

  • Stefano Rabolli Pansera - Director, Khaoyai Art, Thailand
  • Adeline Ooi - Former Director Asia, Art Basel
  • Susie Ferrell - Associate Curator of Chinese Art, LACMA

Moderator: Vivienne Chow - Journalist and Cultural Critic; Columnist, Artnet News


14:00–15:00 – Panel 7: The Shifting Landscape of Digital Art
Speakers: 

  • Dimitri Ozerkov - Former Curator, State Hermitage Museum; Chief Curator, PSI Foundation
  • Ulrich Schrauth - Artistic Director, UBS Digital Art Museum

Moderator: Sarp Kerem Yavuz - Artist, Journalist; Artistic Director, Contemporary Istanbul Foundation


15:00–15:30 – Panel 8: Residency in Context: Creating in Istanbul’s Living Heritage
Speakers: 

  • Summer Wheat - American Painter
  • Aslı Ünal - Arts and Culture Director, Tersane Istanbul

15:30–16:00 – Panel 9: Light, Memory, and the Monumental
Speakers: 

  • Grimanesa Amorós - Artist
  • Alejandra Castro Rioseco - Founder, MIA Art Collection


16:00–16:45 – Panel 10: How to Lead When the Ground Shifts
Speakers: 

  • Anne Pasternak - Director, Brooklyn Museum
  • Ahu Antmen - Director, Sabancı Museum