A presentation and panel discussion including contributions by Nikolaus Hirsch, Philipp Misselwitz, Oda Projesi, Shahab Fotouhi, Shahira Issa, Gregory Sholette and William Wells took place on September 10, 2009 as part of the 11th International Istanbul Biennial. The panel was moderated by Nina Möntmann and organized in the former Platform Garanti Building on Istiklal Caddesi, Istanbul.
The panel “Cultural Agencies” was seeking to broaden the discussion on new forms of cultural collaboration and institution building. The participants presented projects that have either subverted the conventional infrastructure of cultural institutions for political and social agendas or have deliberately left the comfort of globally networked cultural operations or state-animated cultural infrastructure. Instead, they explore the largely ignored narratives of volatile, local, political, social and cultural contexts. Panel presentations explored the contexts of Cairo, Teheran, the urban transformation of Istanbul, and the Beyond of the centre-specific, cultural bubble.
