Sinopale 10: At Sea We Sense, On Land We Reason

Sinopale 10: At Sea We Sense, On Land We Reason is the tenth edition of Sinopale, International Sinop Biennial, in Sinop, Turkey. Its main exhibition is in the Eski Askeri Gazino Binası, a former military club building in the city, from 25 September to 15 November 2026. The organiser lists twenty-three artists and collectives, among them the Turkish artist Ali Kazma, who shows Kristal. Performances, walks, workshops and talks are held alongside the exhibition. The programme takes in clay objects, long embroidered cloth panels and a travelling photo studio. Entry to the events is free.

The title comes from the words of a Sinop fisherman. In the organiser's account, Sinop is one of the sheltered harbours of the Black Sea. The first warning of a storm there comes from the sea itself and from fishing boats heading home. The edition takes that picture as its starting point and asks how people learn, decide and live together at a time when little is certain. The curators call the collaboration "a more-than-human endeavor". It takes in the sea, its animals and songs, the fishermen, marine ecosystems, architecture and the communities of Sinop.

Imece, or collective communal work, sits at the centre of the edition. From 2 September 2026 the artists worked in Sinop alongside local craftspeople, volunteers and community groups. Kazma's Kristal is installed in the former military club building. Tanja Ostojić shows Menopoz İçin Çay Partisi III there; related embroidery tea parties were held on 19, 20 and 22 September. Collectif MASI's workshop and performances, Sudan Ele, Elden Suya, were built around clay objects carrying water symbols inspired by ancient coins. Angela Bonadies staged Karadeniz Agora, a travelling photo studio, as a performance on 20, 21, 22 and 25 September.

Four co-curators share the edition, with no single chief curator. Deniz Kırkalı is based in London, and Mariam Natroshvili, an artist and researcher, in Tbilisi. Marina Fokidis founded Kunsthalle Athena in Athens, and T. Melih Görgün, born in Sinop, founded the biennial. Besides Europe, the artists come from places such as Georgia, South Korea, Kazakhstan and Venezuela. Kazma, born in Istanbul in 1971, showed Resistance in the Pavilion of Turkey at the 55th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, in 2013.