Is the Museum a Battlefield?

Acknowledging that artists rely on a “Biennial system” for funding and exhibition opportunities, artist Hito Steyerl’s contribution to the 13th Istanbul Biennial (September 4 – October 20, 2013) was a lecture format critique of Biennials from within a Biennial. She discussed her Abstract, 2012 (a double screen two-channel video) which is an indictment of the Turkish State in the persecution of the Kurds and the role of US arms firms in the proliferation of state violence.