Sinopale 10, the tenth edition of the International Sinop Biennial, takes place from Wednesday 2 September to Sunday 15 November, bringing contemporary artists from 12 countries into a collaborative programme built around art, local knowledge and collective production. Organised by Sinop Sürdürülebilir Kalkınma Derneği, this year’s edition is titled “Karada Akıl Yürür, Denizde Sezgi” (“Reason Walks on Land, Intuition at Sea”), a theme that considers how communities navigate uncertainty through knowledge, intuition and solidarity. Rather than treating the exhibition as the endpoint, Sinopale begins its artistic production weeks earlier, with artists working alongside local craftspeople, community groups and volunteers. For more information about the events and the artist check out the Sinopale website.
Founded in 2006, Sinopale is recognised as the first biennial of its kind in Anatolia and has developed a distinctive model based on participation and collective making. Its tenth edition marks two decades of activity, bringing approximately 25 artists into a process that connects international contemporary art with forms of local knowledge and production. The biennial has also maintained a horizontal curatorial structure rather than placing the programme under a single lead curator. This year, Deniz Kırkalı, Mariam Natroshvili, Marina Fokidis and Sinopale founder T. Melih Görgün share the curatorial role.
The emphasis on process is central to Sinopale’s identity. Artists begin developing their works with local participants from 2 September, while the resulting main exhibition opens on 25 September. The programme brings together different approaches to contemporary art while addressing ecological and social questions, with collaboration functioning not simply as a theme but as part of how the works themselves are produced. The biennial’s international scope is similarly broad, extending beyond established European art networks to include artists from countries including Georgia, South Korea, Kazakhstan and Venezuela.
For its tenth edition, Sinopale continues to explore how contemporary art can emerge from sustained exchange rather than a conventional exhibition cycle. Its combination of international participation, local collaboration and collective production makes the biennial as much about the relationships formed during the process as the works eventually presented to the public. For more information make sure to check out the Sinopale website.
Kaleyazısı Mahallesi, Hal Aralığı Sokak, Sinop Hal Binası Sinop, Türkiye 57000
