7th Mardin Biennial Opens with ‘GÖKzemin’ (SkyGround): Art Takes Root Between Heaven and Earth

One of Turkey’s most internationally significant contemporary art events, the 7th Mardin Biennial, has opened its doors from 15 May to 21 June 2026. Curated by Çelenk Bafra and themed ‘GÖKzemin’ — a compound word combining the Turkish for ‘sky’ and ‘ground’ — the biennial invites visitors into a layered journey across one of Mesopotamia’s most ancient cities.

What Does ‘GÖKzemin’ Mean?

The title is no ordinary exhibition name. Curator Çelenk Bafra explains: “I write GÖK — sky — in capitals, because it carries connotations in the worlds of belief and philosophy. I place beside it not the word ‘yer’ (place) but ‘zemin’ (ground), chosen for its political and sociological resonance, and I write it in lower case. I am creating a dual yet unified word, fixing the tension between them, and attempting to open a shared space of thought.”

The conceptual framework draws on two literary sources separated by centuries and continents: Aristophanes’ The Birds — one of the earliest utopian visions in Western literature — and Farid ud-Din Attar’s The Conference of the Birds (Mantiq al-Tayr), the great Sufi poem of self-discovery. The bird serves throughout as a symbol of freedom, transformation, and the pursuit of truth.

As Bafra puts it, Mardin itself embodies this tension: “A city suspended between sky and earth, gazing towards the horizon and towards one another through dreams, whilst carrying its disputes and conflicts in its foundations.” The biennial makes this duality its central subject.

Breaking New Ground: Beyond the Old City Walls

For the first time in its history, the Mardin Biennial has expanded beyond the historic old city centre, establishing a three-part route that spans remarkable and contrasting territories:

• Upper Mardin (Yukarı Mardin): The intellectual spine of the biennial, defined by its multi-faith, multilingual community and the celebrated honey-coloured stone architecture. Key venues include the Caravanserai, the Carpenters’ Coffee House, and the Sakıp Sabancı Mardin City Museum.
• Kızıltepe: The commercial and social heart of the wider region, bringing a vibrant contemporary energy. The Ateş Beyler Hamam serves as a biennial venue here.
• Dara Ancient City and Deyrulzafaran Monastery: Archaeological sites of extraordinary resonance — Roman-era cisterns, carved tombs, and a monastery that has stood since the 5th century — providing a historical echo chamber for the biennial’s themes.

This tripartite geography is not merely logistical: it reflects the biennial’s commitment to reading Mardin’s layered memory — ancient, medieval, and modern — as a living intellectual space.

42 Artists from 20 Countries

The 7th edition brings together 42 artists and artist groups from 20 countries, including both artists with roots in Mardin and international voices from across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas. The programme spans painting, sculpture, video art, photography, sound work, performance, and site-specific installation — all presented in dialogue with the city’s historic architecture.

A number of participants have produced new commissions specifically for this edition, responding to Mardin’s physical and cultural context. Others have repositioned existing works within the biennial’s conceptual framework. The result is a programme in which the boundary between art and site is deliberately, productively blurred.

About the Mardin Biennial

Founded in 2010, the Mardin Biennial is organised by the Mardin Cinema Association and directed this year by Döne Otyam and Hakan Irmak. The principal sponsor of the 7th edition is Peugeot Turkey, whose brand director Gupse Kaplan described the partnership as rooted in a shared belief that art strengthens social bonds and feeds intellectual life.

The biennial’s curatorial approach has always been shaped by long-term research and a commitment to place-making: Bafra’s engagement with Mardin began as early as 2005, through research visits connected to the Istanbul Biennial. That depth of relationship with the city is legible throughout ‘GÖKzemin’.

Visitor Information

The 7th Mardin Biennial is open from 15 May to 21 June 2026. Opening events took place on 16–18 May; the closing programme is scheduled for 20–21 June, timed to coincide with the summer solstice. Admission is free across all venues: Upper Mardin, Kızıltepe, Dara Ancient City, and Deyrulzafaran Monastery.

For those travelling from the UK, Mardin is served by direct flights from Istanbul (approximately 1 hour 45 minutes), which is in turn well connected from London. The city is also increasingly recognised as one of the most architecturally and historically compelling destinations in the eastern Mediterranean — making this biennial an exceptional reason to visit.