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The 7th Mardin Biennial will take place from May 15 to June 21, 2026, bringing together 41 artists and collectives from 20 countries under the theme “SKYground.”
Curated by Celenk Bafra, the biennial will be held across multiple venues in Mardin, southeast Türkiye, establishing a dialogue between contemporary art and the city’s layered cultural heritage.
Organizers say the concept of “SKYground” invites visitors to consider both “the ground of reality and the horizon of imagination,” while tracing connections between sky and earth, past and future, and individual and collective experience.
For the first time, the biennial will extend beyond the boundaries of Mardin’s historic old city, encouraging visitors to explore a wider regional route.
New venues include Dara Ancient City, Mor Hananyo (Deyrulzafaran) Monastery, and Ates Beyler Hamami in Kiziltepe. These locations will be presented alongside cultural and public spaces in Upper Mardin, such as Kervansaray, Marangozlar Kahvesi (Carpenter’s Café), and Sakip Sabanci Mardin City Museum.
The program will feature exhibitions, site-specific installations, and public events that interact with Mardin’s stone architecture and landscape.
Bird imagery, which holds a place in the region’s cultural memory, will serve as a guiding motif across the biennial. Organizers describe these figures as mapping “invisible routes between exhibitions, site-specific installations, and public programs.”
The biennial will include artists from Türkiye and abroad, including six artists based in Mardin and its surrounding region.
Participants include Alfredo Jaar, Michael Rakowitz, Khalil Rabah, Hamra Abbas, and Małgorzata Mirga Tas, alongside artists from Türkiye such as Erkan Ozgen, Gozde Ilkin, and Cansu Cakar.
The exhibition will span painting, sculpture, video, photography, performance, sound, and site-specific installations. Some artists will present newly commissioned works, while others will adapt existing works to the biennial’s conceptual framework and Mardin’s historical context.
The program will also feature international collaborations, including the “Gaza Biennale Initiative” with House of Taswir and the “From the Cosmos to the Commons” public art program developed with Stadtkuratorin Hamburg.
The biennial will open with a ceremony on the evening of May 15 in Upper Mardin, while venues will be accessible earlier the same day for preview.
From May 15 to June 21, all venues will be open daily between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., with free admission.
Visitors should note that:
Key program dates include:
Founded in 2010, the Mardin Biennial is an international contemporary art event organized by the Mardin Cinema Association and supported by private sector partners and NGOs.
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