Levent Çalıkoğlu worked as the curator responsible for the museum’s collection between 2004-2007, and as Chief Curator of Istanbul Modern between 2007-2014. He has published numerous articles and books on modern and contemporary art in Turkey.

Since 1998, he has curated a great number of exhibitions in various art institutions as well as independent spaces both in Turkey and abroad. He was one of the consultants actively involved in the transformation of Akbank Sanat in the early 2000s. He was a regular contributor to Milliyet Sanat between 1997-2011. He was the editor of the series of books Çağdaş Sanat Konuşmaları (Contemporary Art Talks) published by Yapı Kredi Publications.

Among exhibitions he has curated for Istanbul Modern are: “Anthony Cragg: Human Nature” (2018), “HARBOR” (2017), “Inci Eviner Retrospective: Who’s Inside You?” (2016); “Painter and Painting: A Mehmet Güleryüz Retrospective” (2015); “Erol Akyavaş – Retrospective” (2013); “Modernity: Perspectives from France and Turkey” (2013, with Çelenk Bafra); “Fifty Years of Urban Walls: A Burhan Doğançay Retrospective” (2012); “Dream and Reality: Modern and Contemporary Women Artists from Turkey” (2011, with Zeynep İnankur, Fatmagül Berktay, and Burcu Pelvanoğlu); “Kutluğ Ataman: The Enemy Inside Me” (2010); “From Traditional to Contemporary: Cultural Memory in Turkish Modern Art” (2010); “Sarkis: Site Exhibition” (2009); “New Works, New Horizons” (2009); “Cihat Burak Retrospective” (2008); “Istanbul Modern – Rotterdam” (2012, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam); “The New Continent: Istanbul” (2009, Seoul Museum of Art); and “Istanbul Modern-Berlin” (2009, Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin). Çalıkoğlu has also curated exhibitions for Akbank Sanat, which include “Hybrid Narratives” (2007); “Strangers with Angelic Faces” (2006); and “On the Frontiers of Experience” (2005), as well as the exhibitions “Dangerous Things” (2002) and “Death=Death” (2001) for Karşı Sanat Çalışmaları.

He gave lectures at both the undergraduate and graduate levels at Eskişehir Anadolu University, Faculty of Fine Arts between 1996-2000, and at Yeditepe University, Faculty of Fine Arts, Arts Management Department between 1996-2004. Between 2001-2013, he served as a Lecturer and Program Coordinator for the Art Management Program at Yıldız Technical University, Faculty of Art and Design.