ISTANBUL.- Silvia Koch joins the Contemporary Istanbul team as the Director of its 10th edition starting from April 1. From 2007 to 2014 Koch worked at artnet, responsible for galleries in Berlin and London, and is credited for successfully guiding the artnet team into a new and highly successful era. In addition, she has worked as various well know galleries including Galerie Christian Nagel and Arndt Contemporary, and has organized several contemporary art exhibitions in Berlin.

With more than twelve years of working in the arts Koch’s impressive knowledge of the art market, (primary and secondary, both online and offline), and expertise in global markets----with a focus on North America, Europe, Asia and Middle East---will be infused into her her new position at Contemporary Istanbul. Koch is very well connected with a focus on contemporary art galleries, museums and collectors.

About her new position Silvia Koch said, “I am extremely delighted to have the opportunity to work for Contemporary Istanbul, the most established art fair in the region and I am looking forward to introducing galleries from East and West to the established and emerging collectors, museums, art critics and art lovers, and vice versa.”

Koch joins a team that, over the last decade, has established Contemporary Istanbul as the leading fair in Turkey and the premium showcase of global contemporary art in the region. The 10th edition of the Contemporary Istanbul Fair will further introduce longer-running and more expansive projects like CI Education: a series of education program, conferences and discussions on art, and CI Art Initiatives: presenting outstanding projects from not-for-profit arts organizations.

Over the last decade, Contemporary Istanbul has established itself as the leading fair in Turkey and the premium showcase of global contemporary art in the region. CI brings East together with West, and looks, too, at the Black Sea, Caucasus and Eastern Mediterranean regions in addition to Turkey and further afield, in terms of attending galleries and collectors. The last edition hosted more than 108 galleries from 23 countries and welcomed over 80,000 visitors.

As a result of its diverse collector base, CI was ranked by Skate’s Art Market Research in New York as the second most attended contemporary art fair in the frontier markets. And, according to Artnews’ article, the fair is the fifth most visited art fair in the world only after ARCO Madrid, the Armory Show in New York, Art Basel Miami Beach, FIAC, and Art Basel.