CI Bloom, a new art fair by Contemporary Istanbul has opened at Tersane, a grand new venue at a historical shipyard on the Golden Horn. With a special focus on Turkish contemporary art galleries, the fair brings together 23 participants and takes place fom the 10th to the 15th of May, 2022. The country’s top galleries are showing 644 artworks by 301 Turkish and international artists, both established and emerging ones.
Reflecting Istanbul’s growing role as a global cultural powerhouse, CI Bloom aims to continue energising the art market, says the Chairman of Contemporary Istanbul Ali Gureli. “After two years full of uncertainty and frustration, the art world is ready to bloom again. The last two editions of Contemporary Istanbul, which were held amid pandemic-related travel restrictions, proved that the local art market has become strong enough to have two fairs. We see more people getting interested in contemporary art and more young collectors coming to the fair.”
During CI Bloom, special attention is devoted to the topic of NFT. A two-day event is bringing together Turkish and international experts who are talking about the potential, risks, and future of NFT. One of CI Bloom’s main objectives is to get people more familiar with digital art and emerging forms of collecting.
Curated by MoCDA (Museum of Contemporary Digital Art) for CI Bloom, Digital Horizons: The New State of the Art is a group show featuring 20 NFTs selected in collaboration with international art collectors. Reflecting the state of contemporary digital art, the exhibition looks at the pivotal roles played by Collectibles and Fine Art NFTs in understanding and popularization of digital art collecting. The exhibition is supported by Paribu and LG OLED.
The participating galleries have been selected by the CI Bloom Selection Committee, comprised of some of the key figures of the Istanbul art world: Yesim Turanli (Pi Artworks), Adnan Yerebakan (Sanatorium), Moiz Zilberman (Zilberman), Tankut Aykut and Doga Oktem (Oktem Aykut), Suela Cennet (The Pill), Oktay Duran (ArtOn).
Galleries are represented at CI Bloom are: Ambidexter (Istanbul), Anna Laudel (Istanbul, Dusseldorf), Art On Istanbul (Istanbul), artSümer (Istanbul), Bozlu Art Project (Istanbul), BüroSarıgedik (Istanbul), C.A.M. Galeri (Istanbul), Dirimart (Istanbul), Ferda Art Platform (Istanbul), Galeri 77 (Istanbul), MERKUR (Istanbul), Galeri Siyah Beyaz (Istanbul, Ankara), Galerist (Istanbul), Martch Art Project (Istanbul), Öktem Aykut (Istanbul), Pg Art Gallery (Istanbul), Pi Artworks (Istanbul, Londra), Piramid Sanat (Istanbul), Sanatorium (Istanbul), The Pill (Istanbul), Vision Art Platform (Istanbul), x-ist (Istanbul) and Zilberman Gallery (Istanbul, Berlin)
CI Bloom is organised by Contemporary Istanbul with the support of its main partner Akbank and venue partner Tersane Istanbul.
The 17th edition of Contemporary Istanbul will take place September 19-23, with preview days on September 17-18.
Info is extracted from the press release of the fair.