ISTANBUL.- Contemporary Istanbul, the leading international art fair will hold its ninth edition from 13 to 16 November 16th 2014 .The unique art fair, which celebrates Istanbul’s exciting and dynamic art scene, takes place at the Istanbul Congress Centre (ICC) and the Istanbul Convention and Exhibition Centre (ICEC).

Contemporary Istanbul features the best in contemporary art in Europe, the Balkans, the Middle East and. It is a rendezvous not to be missed, offering opportunities not just to discover the extraordinary city of Istanbul and its young, vibrant art scene, but to consider the future of contemporary art. With 108 galleries and 520 artists from 23 countries the fair also proudly includes a unique “Plugin media section” that explores the latest, most avant-garde developments in the contemporary art scene worldwide.

Chairman of Contemporary Istanbul, Ali Güreli observes, “With our ninth edition, we are confident and proud to say that we have provided the art foundation, the ground of a generation. CI stands truly behind the new and contemporary Turkish Art: We are not for yesterday, not even for today - but for tomorrow. That is also why we have opened the door for the other countries of the region - and when I say region, I mean a very large one: the Middle East, the Balkans, Caucasus and East Mediterranean as well as Europe.”

Among the galleries participating this year are: Galerie Lelong (Paris), Marlborough Galleries (New York), Rampa Istanbul (İstanbul), Emmanuel Fremin (New York), Galerie Javier Lopez (Madrid), Kashya Hildebrand Gallery (London), Galerie Kornfeld (Berlin), Galeri Nev (İstanbul), Heis Gallery (Fukuoka-Japan), Galeria Pilar Serra, Barbara Paci Art Gallery (Rome), Dirimart (İstanbul), Andipa Gallery (New York) and Galleria Russo (Rome) who will soon open a space in Istanbul.

Major highlights this year include:

CI EDITIONS – a platform for the production, mediation and sale of art editions
CI Editions is CI’s new initiative, aimed at promoting the various formats and conceptual dimensions of art editions and multiples. Through its limited program, CI presents opportunities for new groups of art lovers to collect, and creates a valuable asset for all collectors.

CI Editions goes beyond the traditional idea of printed editions, incorporating limited works of art in the fields of printing (etching, lithography, silk screen print, digital print etc.), artist books, photography, video, sculpture/ object, neon, and sound on vinyl or other media.

Mustafa Horasan, Hale Tenger, Buğra Erol, Fırat Engin, Orhan Cem Çetin, Ali Emir Tapan, Ardan Özmenoğlu, Ahmet Polat, Erdoğan Zümrütoğlu, Gözde Türkkan, Book Lab, Seçkin Pirim, Ahmet Duru, Selçuk Ceylan, Sıtkı Kösemen, Ali Taptık, Özlem Günyol ve Mustafa Kunt are among the artists of CI Editions.

PLUGIN - the second edition of CI’s popular media section
For the second year, Plugin, the New Media Section of CI, will showcase the best in digital art and design. Spanning 1000 m2, the Plugin section focuses on a wide range of genres that make up the digital art and design scene: sound and light installations, video art, interactive and generative design, indoor mapping projects, robotic designs and more. With the Plugin section, CI emphasizes its position as a promoter of the avant-garde This year’s edition includes galleries such as Galerie AKINCI, DAM GALLERY, URAStudio, Yellow Peril Gallery, Sedition, Kasa Galeri, Galeri MCRD, Musion Eyeliner, NOHlab, videobrasil, MOCC, Perte de Signal, Space Invaders, Zimoun Studios, Simon Heijdens, Epitome, Ouchhh, Kurye video, Wiz and Brigitte Kowanz.

An appendix of Chinese contemporary art
This year’s focus on Chinese art includes internationally celebrated artists such as Liu Bolin and Liu Dao. The subject of Chinese contemporary art is also featured in the CI dialogues program, with discussions such as “The Future is Now–Contemporary Art in China” and “Art Scene, Market, Institutions in China.”

In addition, the “Now You See” exhibition offers a view of Chinese video art through the eyes of the collector Dr. Michael I. Jacobs, who has been collecting these works in depth since 2010.

CI DIALOGUES - discovering the essence of The Other Art
Contemporary Istanbul’s talk series, CI Dialogues, creates a platform for constructive debates around today’s and tomorrow’s art world. CI Dialogues for 2014 will gather international art professionals, artists and collectors for a program that complements the second year of the Plug-In Istanbul and New Focus sections.

Linked to the main theme: “The Other Art: Alternatives. Choices. Options”, the program will explore matters such as “How to collect for the future?”, “The Fair of Tomorrow”, “Collecting Editions”, “Understanding the Turkish Art Scene” and many others. Speakers include: Robin Woodhead, Chairman of Sotheby’s International; Pascal Odille, Art Beirut & Singapore Art Fair Artistic Director; Emilio Alvarez, Loop Art Fair Director; Guillaume Levy Lambert, Collector and Founder of The MaGMa Collection; Haro Cümbüşyan, Collector; and Lauré Raibut, Manager of Chinese Contemporary Art at Christies Hong Kong.

CI 90 MINUTE SHOWS – CI’s latest curated exhibition project
Curated by Dr. Marcus Graf, CI will have a new exciting side exhibition. CI 90 Minute Shows is CI’s new ambitious site-specific exhibition project, whereby every 90 minutes a solo show by a visual artists will be assembled, opened, celebrated, mediated, discussed, recorded and again dismantled in order to clear the space for the next artist. This project constitutes an experimental platform for alternative artistic and curatorial practices. In a shipping container-like space of 50 m2, 20 artists will primarily present time and site specific installations, as well as process-oriented works throughout the four days of the fair. Ali Emir Tapan, Mehmet Ali Uysal, Charlie Stein, Lukas Ulmi, Fani Zguro, Ansen, Gentian Shkurti, Island 6, Orhan Cem Çetin, Gallery on the Move (Anri Sala, Dora Garcia, Kajsa Dahlberg, Pipilotti Rist), Beyli Peter, Voldemars Johansons, Özlem Günyol & Mustafa Kunt, İsmail Necmi, Ozan Kerem Bayraktar, Buğra Erol, İrfan Önürmen, Fırat Engin, Mariam Natroshvili & Detu Jintcharadze, Anthony Laurut and Fred Farrow are among the participant artists of CI 90 minute shows.