Istanbul Modern prepares for the Semiha Berksoy exhibition, sponsored by Flormar

Istanbul Modern presents “Aria of All Colors,” an exhibition sponsored by Flormar that brings together the multifaceted work of Semiha Berksoy – one of the most important women artists of the Republican era and Türkiye’s modern history. The exhibition opens to the public on January 22, 2026.

“Aria of all Colors” brings together Berksoy’s production across the performing arts, visual arts, cinema, and literature. The singular connections she forged between opera, theater, painting, and literature are presented to visitors with more than 200 works.

The first iteration of the retrospective was presented at the contemporary art museum Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin from December 6, 2024 to May 11, 2025. Re-envisioned through Istanbul Modern’s curatorial lens under the title “Semiha Berksoy: Aria of All Colors,” the exhibition offers an original exhibition design, and a distinct selection of works. Focusing on the artist’s creative processes and life, the presentation is enriched with sound recordings, moving image documents, archival ephemera, and photographs.

“Aria of All Colors,” the most comprehensive exhibition on Semiha Berksoy ever presented in Türkiye, meets audiences with the main sponsorship of Flormar, Türkiye’s leading makeup brand* renowned for its expertise in color. Alongside bringing its products to women in more than 80 countries, Flormar continues its support for culture and the arts by contributing to the realization of this exhibition.

Inspired by the exhibition design created by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, directors of Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, “Semiha Berksoy: Aria of All Colours” has been reimagined by the Istanbul Modern curatorial team. The exhibition is prepared by the museum’s Chief Curator Öykü Özsoy Sağnak, Curator Deniz Pehlivaner, and Assistant Curator Yazın Öztürk.

From her early drawings to her opera-themed paintings inspired by the stage, from her self-portraits and portraits to her large-scale sheet paintings, the exhibition presents Berksoy’s personal mythology and her profound relationship with performance through a thematic structure. The operas in which she starred, the theater productions she staged, her published short story, and her role in Istanbul Streets, Türkiye’s first sound film, collectively reveal the full scope of her contributions to the world of art.

Who is Semiha Berksoy?

Semiha Berksoy (1910–2004) was Türkiye’s first high dramatic soprano, the principal artist of the Ankara State Opera, and an artist whose practice spanned painting, performance, theatre, and cinema. In the early years of the Republic, she took painting and sculpture lessons at the Academy of Fine Arts, drama at the Theater School, and music at the Istanbul Municipal Conservatory. She graduated with top honors from the Berlin State Academy of Music. Beyond being the first Turkish woman to perform leading operatic roles on European stages, Berksoy is one of the pioneers of Türkiye’s modern history, with an extraordinary body of work in the performing arts, literature, and visual arts spanning over 70 years. 

(*Türkiye’s Leading Makeup Brand: based on volume/unit sales according to the NielsenIQ Türkiye cosmetics report for the period October 2024–September 2025.)