ISTANBUL.-The Istanbul Museum of Modern Art is happy to announce its second international exhibition, "Venice-Istanbul," a selection of works from the 51st Venice Biennial which will take place throughFebruary 2, 2007. The Venice Biennale, which sets the agenda for the art world, will move to our country for the first time in its 110-year history.

For the first time, the 51st Venice Biennale was curated by two women. Maria de Corral and Rosa Martinez, who is also chief curator at Istanbul Modern, realized two separate exhibitions. While Maria de Corral provided a historical and classical selection of works in her exhibit entitled, "The Experience of Art," Rosa Martinez used an experimental exhibit style to emphasize new developments in art in "Always a Little Further."

The exhibition "Venice-Istanbul," including works selected from the Biennale by its co-curator and Istanbul Modern’s chief curator Rosa Martinez, brings together exciting works carrying traces of the past and seeds of the future from these two exhibits. The exhibition, which considers numerous issues, brings together leading contemporary artists and will enable Turkish audiences to see their fascinating works at an Istanbul venue.

Coinciding with the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Turkey and Italy and the subsequent declaration of Istanbul and Venice as sister cities, the exhibit will bring out the strong interaction between these two cities with rich historical pasts. Explaining that the exhibition reflects the erasure of boundaries and how art can be a vehicle to strenghthen the historical, institutional, and educational ties between two cities, curator Rosa Martinez says, "the Venice-Istanbul project shows how art can move from biennials towards museums and how it can gain new meanings through this transition."

The exhibit includes works by Semiha Berksoy, Donna Conlon, Bruna Esposito, Regina Jose Galindo, Guerilla Girls, Subodh Gupta, Mona Hatoum, Emily Jacir, William Kentridge, Rem Koolhaas, Juan Munoz, Bülent Sangar, Berni Searle, Valeska Soares, Pascale Marthine Tayou, the Centre of Attention, Joana Vasconselos, Robin Rhode, and Antoni Tapies.

The works by the artists contributing to "Venice-Istanbul" generally carry messages of rebellion, and examine the place of individuals, particularly of women, in a globalizing society. These works will hopefully enable Istanbul Modern to play a leading role in providing a platform for the open discussion of contemporary art and women’s issues.