Collectors from across Europe, the US and Turkey converged at the opulent Tersane Istanbul complex—a restored Ottoman shipyard overlooking the Golden Horn—for the opening of Contemporary Istanbul (CI, until 28 September) on Tuesday. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, the fair brought together 51 galleries from 16 countries.
This year’s edition coincided with the Istanbul Biennial, which drew a larger crowd of collectors and museum groups compared to the previous year. The fair showed stronger quality than its early iterations, with works by leading Turkish artists such as Nil Yalter, Güneş Terkol and Azade Köker on view.
Many booths displayed fabric and ceramic-based pieces alongside paintings, with prices spanning €1,000 for young emerging artists to above €2m for a monumental James Rosenquist painting, previously exhibited at the Guggenheim Museums in New York and brought by the local gallery Sevil Dolmaci.
Spirits were high at the fair but Turkey’s socio-political climate remains sensitive. Since the arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu earlier this year, protests have continued in parts of the country.
Yet Ali Güreli, the chairperson and founder of Contemporary Istanbul, and founder of The Art Newspaper Turkey remains optimistic about the country’s art scene. “We should be calm,” he says, adding that it’s also essential to be “radical and clever.”
“Censorship is nothing new”
Despite an environment of increasing censorship and pressure on cultural institutions, the city’s art ecosystem remains resilient. Local artists continue to find creative ways to produce critical, socially engaged work, some of which Turkish galleries displayed at the fair.
Pilevneli gallery displayed a hyper-realistic painting, You are Safe Here (2025), by the Turkish artist Rasim Aksan, priced at approximately €120,000, visible from the window of their temporary street-level space. The monumental triptych depicts sailors carousing in what appears to be a gay bar, with homoerotic paintings in the background. It was a bold choice given that LGBTQ+ themes risk censorship in Turkey.
The Istanbul- and Berlin-based Zilberman gallery showed Nazar/Eye (2019), a fabric work by the Kurdish feminist artist Fatoş İrwen, created during her imprisonment, delicately stitched with human hair and pierced with safety pins. Meanwhile, Pilot gallery displayed the Turkish artist Halil Altındere’s bronze Pinocchio sculpture, whose long nose turns into a broom.
“It’s talking about how it’s hardly possible to sweep up your own lies with more lies, but the piece is not directed towards any specific party or politician,” says Marcus Graf, a professor at Yeditepe University, noting that the artist’s subtle approach is common. “That’s the Turkish way… Censorship is nothing new. Since the 1980s, after the military coup, the restriction of freedom of speech has been totally different from the West.”
He adds there is increased caution regarding religion now: “You won’t see anyone—at least not openly—criticising religious agendas.”
Collecting amid inflation
While the preview got off to a slow start, several Turkish galleries rehung their booth on the second day. Local gallery Dirimart sold a Tony Cragg sculpture, and Sevil Dolmacı gallery sold a Turkish artist Nilbar Güreş work for €35,000. Pilot Gallery sold an Altındere painting to a French collector for €50,000. Zilberman sold several mixed-media works by Turkish artist Azade Köker, priced from €9,500 to €45,000. They also sold a work by Slovakian artist Lucia Tallova for €8,000.
Zilberman’s program manager Ece Ateş noted, however, that many collectors were requesting discounts due to the current economic climate. Turkey’s GDP grew 4.8% over the past year, surpassing expectations, though inflation remains above 30%.
“Turkey is always upside down—it’s like a roller coaster. Twenty years ago, it was the same,” says the founder of Pilot Galerie Azra Tüzünoğlu, referring to past economic crises. “But the whole world has problems now. The mood isn’t good anywhere.”
Several international galleries reported sales on the lower end. Some noted that collectors lacked the urgency or decisiveness of buyers in larger fairs. Heft Gallery—one of 11 newcomers to the fair—sold two works by Edward Burtynsky made in collaboration with the generative AI artist Alkan Avcıoğlu for €13,700 each and two works by Nancy Burson for €12,800 and €10,300. Another first-time exhibitor, New York-based Amanita Gallery, sold works by Nicholas Campbell and Adrian Schachter in the range of about €8,600 to €12,800.
Many overseas exhibitors were pleased with the outcome of the fair. Barbara Čeferin, the founder and owner of the Slovenian gallery Galerija Fotografija, who was also attending for the first time, said she had her eye on this fair for years and wasn’t disappointed: “Istanbul has economic power and people who cherish art.”
Next year, CI’s Güreli plans to target Asian exhibitors and expand the fair to 70 galleries. Contemporary art galleries are also expected to open soon in Tersane Istanbul, underscoring the vitality of the broader art scene. “Turkish society is very crisis-experienced,” Graf says. “That’s what I admire about the [local art institutions]—despite all the tumult, they always continue.”
