Semiha Berksoy: l’artista turca che ha reso la sua vita un’opera totale
A major retrospective titled "Aria of All Colors" at the Istanbul Modern, running until September 6, celebrates the multifaceted Turkish artist Semiha Berksoy (1911–2004). Featuring over 200 works, the exhibition showcases her pioneering career as a painter, sculptor, opera singer, actress, costume designer, and performance artist. Berksoy became the first Turkish soprano to perform on European stages after studying in Berlin, and she helped found the Ankara State Opera. Her deeply personal paintings, often depicting her mother and cultural figures, are marked by a graphic, childlike style and a recurring "line of destiny." The show includes costumes, sketches, archival footage, and even a refrigerator door painted with her daughter's portrait.
This exhibition matters because it reclaims Berksoy as a vital, overlooked figure in 20th-century art history—a practitioner of "total art" whose legacy has been gaining renewed attention. Her work appeared at the 51st Venice Biennale in 2005 and again at the 60th Venice Biennale in 2024, and a separate retrospective titled "Singing in Full Color" was held at Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin in 2025. By presenting her across disciplines, the Istanbul Modern show positions Berksoy as a precursor to contemporary interdisciplinary practice and highlights the rich, often underrecognized contributions of Turkish women artists to global modernism.