Contemporary Istanbul Bloom

By Justin Mays:

Contemporary Istanbul continues to dominate the regional art scene with its spring edition of the esteemed art fair, CI Bloom. This edition is held at the extraordinary Tersane, Istanbul’s old shipyard, which is currently being redeveloped into an ambitious regeneration project, on the shores of the Golden Horn. 

This spring, the fair hosts 23 established local galleries, like Dirimart and Galerist, to energize the art scene before a more densely programmed fall arts and culture calendar begins. It also celebrates the relaxing of pandemic-era restrictions with pop up restaurants and bars, like House of Brothers which is normally located in Macka, catering to the fair attendees. The sensory joys do not stop at gazing at art or consuming some of the best food and drink the city has to offer, there are DJ sets and live music performances planned every day. This edition of the fair ends on May 15 and tickets can be purchased on Mobilet website.

CI Bloom is hosting an NFT exhibition “Digital Horizons: The New State of the Art,” curated by the Museum of Contemporary Digital Art (MoCDA). This group exhibition features 20 NFTs and aims to help the audience better understand contemporary digital art through the lens of international art collectors who helped curate the exhibition. Not unlike the metaverse and real estate parcels that we explored in an earlier post on metaverse, NFTs and blockchain-based technologies have been enthusiastically integrated into the creative scene by artists, collectors, and galleries. 

Experts from around the world are scheduled to speak at the “Digital Horizons Conference Program” planned as part of CI Bloom and sponsored by Paribu, one of Turkey’s largest cryptocurrency trading platforms and companies like LG. A myriad of topics will be covered including topics such as entering the crypto/NFT market and the creative use of blockchain. 

Those wanting to experience the Tersane space to observe one of the largest real estate projects in development in central Istanbul right now and to get a feel for Istanbul’s cultural events should visit this weekend to enjoy some art, music, and food at CI Bloom.