The inauguration of the program has been launched in collaboration with SAHA Association (Türkiye), highlighting the importance of keeping the dialogue open, through art and culture, between the two countries whose histories have been interconnected.

Through an intensive and well-curated program, the visiting curators will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the host country’s art ecosystem during a six-week residency.

📍 Athens Residency: 2 May – 13 June 2025
📍 Istanbul Residency: 22 September – 31 October 2025

The program will spotlight the practices of emerging, mid-career and established artists based in Athens and Istanbul who might have had limited opportunities to showcase their work abroad to international peers and colleagues.   

ARTWORKS is enriching its program of international curators hosted in Athens by launching a new collaboration with the organizations FRAC Corsica (France) and BIENALSUR (Argentina), opening a dialogue between the Mediterranean and South America.

Each organization will host a professional from one of the partner institutions for four (4) weeks, creating a circular exchange.

The curatorial exchange program is structured institutionally as a research platform emphasizing the connection between artistic practice and local contexts. It encourages the formation of shared experiences rooted in the social and cultural realities of each place and generates narratives capable of linking geographically distant environments through the interdependencies that define them.

FRAC Corsica is the island’s first institution integrated into a national and European network, housing and managing a collection of 521 contemporary artworks. As Corsica’s second largest public art collection, it is structured around two main axes: the Anthropocene and its impact on landscape and environment, and questions of identity and territory through a critical lens. Beyond conserving and exhibiting works across the island, FRAC promotes education, dialogue, and cultural exchange through exhibitions, residencies, training, and partnerships with local and international institutions. With a strong commitment to young and Corsican artists, it fosters creation and research while ensuring accessibility for diverse audiences. Despite setbacks, such as the 2001 fire in Corti, FRAC has grown into a vital cultural hub, affirming Corsica’s role in contemporary art while cultivating connections across the Mediterranean and beyond.

In 2025, BIENALSUR celebrates ten years of activity, redefining the global map of contemporary art and connecting communities and geographies through a decentralized, democratic, and pluralistic platform that defends the right to culture and contributes to shaping a contemporary global community through art. Founded in 2015 out of the Meetings of the Global South, BIENALSUR is organized by the Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero (UNTREF) in Argentina. It is based on a horizontal and decentralized approach that fosters collaboration, networking, and mutual support among artists, institutions, and audiences on a global scale. The 5th edition in 2025 will take place across more than 135 venues in 35 countries, featuring over 400 artists. Constantly expanding its presence, BIENALSUR reaffirms the transnational dimension of contemporary art—its capacity to create communities and to chart new maps through the fluidity of exchanges and the openness of access.