Curated by curatorial collective What, How & for Whom/WHW, the 11th International Istanbul Biennial took its title from Bertolt Brecht's play The Threepenny Opera which includes the song “What Keeps Mankind Alive?” composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Brecht. With 140 contributions from international artists including Rabih Mroué, Sanja Ivekovic, and Artur Żmijewski, the biennial presented the works of Avi Mograbi and Ruti Sela and Maayan Amir. Mograbi presented his documentary film Z32 (2008), which forefronts the suppressed background of systemic violence and the means of its individual execution, asking what the personal and collective consequences are. Mograbi often appears in his own films, questioning his own role and ethical involvement with the reality depicted in his films. Ruti Sela and Maayan Amir presented their collaborative video trilogy Beyond Guilt (2003–05), in which the artists explore the entanglement of sex and the structural violence of the Israeli state. Through unapologetic images of brazen dialogues, seemingly erotic conversations often take an unexpected turn, and conflict erupts where least expected, exposing the overpowering influence of militarism in Israeli society.