Istanbul's Art Map Is Being RedrawnAfter 21 years on the European side, Contemporary Istanbul's founder is planning to cross the Bosphorus

Brussels Crow | 9 October 2026

The 21st edition of Contemporary Istanbul closed on 27 September at Tersane Istanbul — the restored 15th-century Ottoman shipyard on the edge of the Golden Horn — after what organisers described as the fair's most successful week in its history. 70 galleries from 16 countries, 736 artists and 1,372 artworks drew 38,500 visitors over five days, with international attendance rising 50% from the previous edition. Twenty-two galleries joined the fair for the first time, while Istanbul hosted VIP guests from 37 countries and representatives of 148 institutions. anewsanews

Within days of the closing, founder and chairman Ali Güreli announced something that reframed the entire week: he is planning a second fair, on Istanbul's Asian side.

No name, no venue, no opening date. The announcement was deliberately thin on detail. But its strategic logic was not.

The Geography of the Idea

The 21st edition of Contemporary Istanbul occupied a newly designated single-floor site in the 500-year-old Ottoman-era shipping yard on the edge of the scenic Golden Horn. The move to a single floor was itself a statement. "There is a great advantage in having the entire fair on the same floor," Güreli said. theartnewspapertheartnewspaper

But the more revealing strategic signal came from the fair's thematic direction. The fair featured galleries from across Asia including Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, Seoul, New Delhi and Singapore through its Focus Asia section. This was not a one-off programming decision — Güreli described it as a comprehensive programme dedicated to the Asian art scene "set to develop over the course of two years." anewsilsole24ore

A fair on Istanbul's Anatolian side, then, is not simply a real estate expansion. It is the physical expression of a pivot that has already been underway at the programming level. If the European shore anchors the fair's relationship with Western and Middle Eastern markets, the Asian side would complete the circuit — positioning Istanbul not as a peripheral outpost of the European art world, but as a genuine hinge between continents.

As Il Sole 24 Ore put it: "After twenty years, Contemporary Istanbul does not seem content merely to grow, but appears to be redefining its role." ilsole24ore

The Institutional Architecture

Güreli has not clarified whether the new Anatolian fair will be an extension of the Contemporary Istanbul brand or an independent entity with its own identity. That distinction matters: a branded extension inherits the fair's existing collector relationships, gallery network and institutional credibility; an independent fair would need to build its own market position from scratch, but could also develop a different aesthetic or commercial register.

What is already established is that the Contemporary Istanbul ecosystem is considerably larger than the annual September fair. Alongside it sits CI Bloom — a separate fair for emerging galleries — and the Contemporary Istanbul Foundation, which runs the CIF Dialogues public programme. The Foundation has also launched educational projects in Hatay, one of the regions affected by the 2023 earthquakes. artdogistanbul

Güreli also owns The Art Newspaper Türkiye, published eleven times a year. The fair, the foundation, the satellite fair, the publication — together they constitute something closer to a cultural institution than a commercial event.

A second major fair on the Anatolian side would extend that structure across the city's geography, and potentially across its markets.

2027: Germany and the Biennial

The immediate next step is already set. Güreli announced that Germany would be the focus of next year's programme, with galleries from Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart and Cologne set to meet Turkey's art world. More significantly, Contemporary Istanbul has already announced its return for 2027 on the same week as the 19th Istanbul Biennial. anewstheartnewspaper

That scheduling decision is worth examining. The Istanbul Biennial is one of the most internationally visible platforms in contemporary art — a curatorial event that draws critics, curators and institutional buyers from across the world. Aligning the fair with biennial week transforms Contemporary Istanbul from a stand-alone commercial event into part of a broader cultural moment. It concentrates international art-world attention on Istanbul during a single week, maximising the value of every visitor's presence for both events.

It also, not coincidentally, raises the fair's profile relative to its European competitors at a moment when the geography of the global art market is shifting.

The Tax Question

Güreli has noted that the fair is "encouraged by regulatory developments, like tax breaks, aimed at making Turkey a more attractive destination for international investment and cross-border cultural exchange." But the ambition goes further than existing policy. theartnewspaper

Contemporary Istanbul's management is in active talks with Turkey's Ministry of Culture and Tourism on reforming the taxation of artworks. Güreli has cited Italy's model — where art purchases attract a VAT rate of around 5% — as a benchmark, and has specifically called for incentives to encourage corporate art collecting.

This is a structurally important detail. The art market's depth in any city is determined not only by the number of galleries or the quality of fairs, but by the fiscal environment in which collecting takes place. High transaction taxes suppress the secondary market, discourage corporate patronage, and make it harder for collectors to build and trade collections over time. A reform along Italian lines would alter the economics of collecting in Turkey significantly — and would make Istanbul considerably more competitive with Dubai, which has positioned itself aggressively as a low-tax art market hub in the region.

What Istanbul Is Actually Competing For

The ambition behind all of this — the Asian pivot, the Anatolian fair, the biennial alignment, the tax reform lobbying — is legible as a single strategic project: to establish Istanbul as the dominant art market hub between Europe and Asia.

The competition for that position is real. Dubai has invested heavily in its art infrastructure and benefits from zero taxation and strong Gulf collecting culture. Athens has re-emerged as a serious contemporary art city. Beirut, once a regional centre, has been devastated. Seoul and Hong Kong remain powerful but geographically distant for European and Middle Eastern collectors.

Istanbul's claim rests on something none of those cities can replicate: as Güreli has put it, "Istanbul has always been a meeting point — a kind of translator between East and West." That is not marketing language. It is a genuine geographic and cultural reality that twenty-one years of fair-building has begun to turn into institutional infrastructure. selectionsarts

The Anatolian fair, whenever it launches, will be the clearest signal yet of whether that infrastructure is robust enough to support the ambition.

Sources

• The Art Newspaper, 1–2 October 2026

• Anadolu Agency, 1 October 2026

• Il Sole 24 Ore, 24 September 2026

• Portierium Magazine, 29 September 2026

• ANews, 1 October 2026

• Selections Arts Magazine

• The Markaz Review

This article is published as part of Brussels Crow's coverage of European and Eurasian cultural policy and the international art market. All factual claims have been verified against multiple independent sources.