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Görgün Taner

Selection Committee
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Mr. Görgün Taner (b. 1959) is the General Director of the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), a non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 1973 that organises four international festivals (Film, Theatre, Classical Music, and Jazz) and the Istanbul Biennial. A graduate of Boğaziçi University’s Department of History, Taner has been working at the Foundation since 1983 and has served as Assistant Director and Program Coordinator for Foreign Relations (1987-1994) and Director of the International Istanbul Jazz Festival (1994-2002) before being appointed General Director in 2002. He is also currently a board member of the Istanbul Modern Museum.

He was the Chair of the European Cultural Foundation (based in Amsterdam) for five years between 2013 and 2018. From 2012 to 2019, he was a member of the International Advisory Board of HEC Montréal Business School’s International Arts Management Master of Management programme. Since 2014, he has been a member of the Advisory Committee of the German-Turkish Youth Bridge. Additionally, he was also a member of the Advisory Board of Allianz Turkey from 2015 to 2021.

Previously, he served as the President of the European Jazz Festivals Association between 1998 and 2002, and as a member of the Advisory Board of the Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Agency. He was the commissioner of Turkey during the Cultural Season of Turkey in France, between July 2009 and March 2010. Between September 2010 and May 2011, he was the Art Consultant to the Amsterdam Municipality. 

He was awarded by the French government with the Legion of Honour (Chevalier dans l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur) in 2011 and named a member of the French Ministry of Culture’s Order of Arts and Letters in 2014. The same year, he received the Officer’s Cross of Merit for Outstanding Service to the Republic of Poland. Most recently, he received the title of Knight of the Orange-Nassau by H.M. King Willem Alexander (Netherlands) in September 2022.

POSITION: General Director of the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV)