Michael Rakowitz: 7th Mardin Biennial

Pi Artworks is pleased to announce that Michael Rakowitz has been selected as one of the exhibiting artists in the 7th Mardin Biennial, GÖKzemin, taking place 15 May – 21 June 2026 in Mardin, Turkey.

Curated by Çelenk Bafra, this edition of the biennial takes its title from a compound of the Turkish words for sky and ground, proposing a line of thought between landscape and memory, past and present, individual and collective. The biennial brings together 41 artists and artist collectives from 20 countries across a constellation of sites including Dara Ancient City, Deyrulzafaran Monastery, and Sakıp Sabancı Mardin City Museum.

Rakowitz's participation continues a sustained engagement with the histories and geographies of the Middle East that has defined his practice. Mardin's position as a site of layered cultural memory — its architecture, its multiplicity of traditions, its position at a threshold between regions — offers a resonant context for his work.

GÖKzemin takes place across historic and public spaces in and around the old city of Mardin, with the figure of the bird as a recurring guide through its narrative. Exhibitions, installations, and performances move across venues, inviting audiences into a reading of the city as both physical texture and living archive.