Çanakkale Biennale Returns with Metcezir // Ebb & Flow
10th Edition to Take Place Across Çanakkale
October 10 to November 20, 2026
The Çanakkale Biennale returns for its 10th edition from October 10 to November 20, 2026, under the title Metcezir // Ebb & Flow. Bringing together more than 60 artists from Türkiye and around the world, the Biennale will unfold across Çanakkale and the Troad, exploring the relationships between water, soil, memory, and transformation.
The 10th edition marks an important moment for the Biennale, which began in 2008. It also coincides with the 20th anniversary of the Çanakkale Biennale Initiative (CABININ), the organization behind the Biennale. Over two decades, CABININ has built a cultural and artistic program rooted in Çanakkale while developing connections with artists and institutions in Türkiye and abroad.
The Biennale continues its participatory and collective approach for its 10th edition. A committee comprising Deniz Erbaş, Ebru Nalan Sülün, Halil Yoleri, Loukia Thomopoulou, Seyhan Boztepe, Vince Briffa, Yasemin Ülgen, and Gu Zhenqing selected the participating artists and works. More than 60 artists from Türkiye, the Netherlands, Germany, South Korea, the United Kingdom, China, Romania, France, and Belgium will take part across 15 exhibition and event venues.
Ebb & Flow from Çanakkale to Troy
The title Metcezir // Ebb & Flow takes its starting point from Çanakkale’s coastal geography and the movement created by the advance and retreat of water. The meeting of water and soil creates a landscape in constant change. Coastlines shift, material erodes and accumulates, and each encounter leaves traces behind.
The Biennale builds on this image to explore the relationship between soil and water. It looks at Çanakkale’s natural ecosystems alongside its living cultural heritage, considering how these elements connect with time, memory, and everyday life. At its core is a wider question about our relationship with nature and how it shapes the ways we produce, learn, and live.
Geography itself becomes part of the exhibition. The Biennale moves from the city center to villages and from contemporary settlements to historical sites. Exhibitions, performances, panels, talks, workshops, and other events will bring contemporary art into different cultural and everyday spaces across the region.The program stretches from Çanakkale to Troy, and from Ayvacık to Adatepe, inviting artists to respond to the natural, cultural, and historical layers of the Troad. In doing so, the Biennale approaches the region not simply as a setting for the exhibition, but as part of the questions and artistic practices that shape it.
Exhibitions will take place across cultural institutions within the MAHAL art ecosystem and at the Troy Museum, while extending to initiatives in other parts of the region. These include Tartışık Village in Ayvacık, Adatepe Olive Oil Museum and Adatepe İda Blue in Küçükkuyu, and the Güneşane Foundation in Assos. Balıkhane, an important meeting place in Çanakkale, will host a special selection focused on the city’s relationship with the sea.
Through this network of sites, Metcezir // Ebb & Flow connects contemporary artistic practice with the landscapes and communities of Çanakkale. At the same time, the 10th edition reflects on a Biennale that has developed alongside the city and region since 2008, while CABININ marks twenty years of cultural work.
The 10th edition of the Çanakkale Biennale is realised with the main support of Dardanel and Kale Group – Kale Design and Art Centre; in collaboration with the Çanakkale Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism, Çanakkale Municipality and Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University; with the local partnership of the Troy Excavations, ÇATKAV and the Troia Foundation; and with the corporate support of 1915 Çanakkale Bridge.
