The contemporary world is being constantly redefined by the globalization of economy and geopolitical conflicts. Transnational trading, border crossing, migration, global communication and new technologies are transforming almost every aspect of our life. At the same time, every individual is struggling to negotiate with the deconstruction of cultural memory, identity and values prompted by these radical transformations. A metropolis like İstanbul; situated between Europe and Asia, with a long and rich history of negotiating between different cultural, religious and political influences from both the West and the East, and endlessly expanding; perfectly incarnates this dynamism. It is a city of the in-between, of hybridity and, ultimately, the Multitude. It is an “Entre-Polis”.

The site of the Antrepo is a part of the İstanbul harbour, one of the busiest points of material trading and human contact in the world. Its geographic position is extremely crucial: it sits in the middle of the most important zone of geopolitical control, facing both the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn. It is İstanbul’s gate towards both sides of the hemisphere.

To use Antrepo No.3 as a site for the 10th International İstanbul Biennial is inevitably to deal with its urban/geopolitical position and implication. The Antrepo is a condensed “Entre-Polis”. It is a site for artists to investigate and experiment with the intensity of today’s metropolitan life, always in-between and on the move. To function like a real city, the Antrepo space is designed as a kind of urban maze to reflect the labyrinth structure of İstanbul. It will host works by more than 50 artists from different parts of the world. Like the urban multitude, these artists are highly different personalities using different languages. They are committed to explore a wide range of issues decisive for the making of our condensed “Entre-Polis”: urban transformation, global communication, migration, border-crossing travels, geopolitical conflicts, cultural memory, ethnic and religious differences, urban rebellion, manifestations and actions for social solidarity and even, love. Their artistic visions and gestures are always dynamic, performative and open to the participation of the public. Together, they make the maze really urban. This urban maze, informed by the reality of the city outside, is envisioned and organized into a scenario of street life, growing and oscillating between the most intensive overlapping and mixture of light, darkness, images, sounds, actions, traffic and accidents. It unfolds in all directions -up and down, right and left, disorientates, chaotic, spectacular but is full of mysteries and surprises.

It is a collective action to claim for the total dissolution of the borders between art and urban life.