By Invitation Only: Fatoş Üstek
From breaking into the art world to reshaping its future, this week on By Invitation Only, Frieze Sculpture curator Fatoş Üstek shares the ethos that has defined her career.
Welcome to by invitation only—a new series for paid subscribers on artplace.
by invitation only hosts exclusive Q&As with guests, offering readers a rare behind-the-curtain look into the lives, interests, and perspectives of creative professionals shaping the art world today. It is designed to be simple, informal and personal, giving our audience a real sense of the people behind the work.
Introducing our next guest: Fatoş Üstek!
From breaking into the art world, to reshaping its future, this week on by invitation only Fatoş shares the ethos that has defined her career. She offers insights on navigating the industry, advice for emerging artists, a glimpse into her personal collection, and a hint at her next big project.
bio:
A leading force in contemporary art, Fatoş is a Turkish-born, London-based independent curator and writer whose influence spans biennials, public commissions, and major institutions worldwide.
Fatoş is the curator of Frieze Sculpture (2023–2026) transforming London’s Regent’s Park into an open-air museum each summer. In 2024, she released her book The Art Institution of Tomorrow, a bold manifesto on how cultural spaces must evolve to stay relevant for generations to come. She is also a passionate advocate for equity in the arts, co-founding FRANK, an alliance pushing for fair artist pay, and is a founding member of AWITA, a nonprofit advancing women’s careers in the visual arts.
Fatoş’ extensive experience in the art world includes a range of high-profile appointments, too many to list in full, but highlights include: Director of the Liverpool Biennale (2019–2020), a judge for the Turner Prize (2020), and a member of the selection panel for the Dutch and Scottish Pavilions at the Venice Biennale (2022, 2024), among many others.
Her influence has been widely recognised in lists such as: Apollo’s 40 Under 40 Thinkers; Evening Standard’s Progress 1000: London’s Most Influential People; Artlyst’s Power 100 and Artsy’s Top 20 Most Influential Young Curators in Europe.
You can find Fatoş in all of the following places:
Read Fatoş’ full bio on her website
Follow her on Instagram @fatosustek
Current curatorial projects: Cascading Principles: Expansions within Geometry, Philosophy, and Interference at Oxford University; Frieze Sculpture 2025
We are honoured to have Fatoş as one of our first guests!
So without further ado…
What was your first entry-level job in the arts?
I started as a voluntary assistant for the archive at SALT (formerly Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center). Around the same time, I assisted Libia Castro and Ólafur Ólafsson, the first international artists-in-residence at Platform.
How has your career evolved to bring you to where you are today?
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