Sep 14th 2026

Exhibition Architecture: A conversation with Koray Duman

@ Graham Foundation

4 West Burton Pl, Chicago, IL 60610

Opening Monday, September 14th, from 6PM - 8PM

Architect Koray Duman joins Graham Foundation director Sarah Herda for a conversation that explores the role of exhibition architecture in shaping how artists, curators, and institutions communicate and engage with audiences. Duman draws on a range of recent projects, including the exhibition design for the 59th Carnegie International, If the word we, at the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; Chimera, Denniston Hill’s large-scale installation for the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia (2026); Future Schools at the National Academy of Design, New York; and his collaboration with artist Paul Pfeiffer. Through these works, he considers how exhibition design can become more than a framework for displaying art, offering instead a tool for advancing curatorial and artistic visions and engaging audiences in new ways. By treating exhibitions as temporary institutions, spaces capable of responding to temporary questions with greater flexibility than permanent architecture, he reveals exhibition-making as a rich tool for deepening connections among audiences, artworks, and the broader issues that artists and curators seek to address.

Presented in partnership with Independent Curators International (ICI), in conjunction with Chicago Exhibition Week.

Koray Duman is an architect and founder of Büro Koray Duman.

Büro Koray Duman (B-KD) is an award-winning, research-driven architecture and design studio based in New York City and Istanbul. Founded in 2013, the international practice approaches design as a tool for connection between people, designing stimulating, adaptable environments that nurture generosity, knowledge exchange, and evolving forms of community. Working across all typologies and scales, B-KD’s past clients include MoMA PS1, MOCA Geffen, Guggenheim Bilbao, the Finnish Cultural Institute NY, the Noguchi Museum, Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, artist Richard Prince, the American Society for Muslim Advancement, and the Center for Art and Advocacy.

Independent Curators International (ICI) supports the work of curators to help create stronger art communities through experimentation, collaboration and international engagement. Their collaborative programs connect curators across social, political and cultural borders, promoting cultural exchange, access to art and public awareness for the curator’s role.

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