Semiha Berksoy

Singing in Full Color
Published to accompany the first comprehensive retrospective in Germany of the Turkish painter and opera singer Semiha Berksoy at the Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, Berlin from 06 December 2024 to 11 May 2025. Text in English and German.

Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart is presenting the first comprehensive retrospective of the Turkish painter and opera singer Semiha Berksoy (1910–2004) in Germany. Berksoy studied at the Hochschule für Musik [Music Academy] in Berlin from 1936 to 1939, and enjoyed a distinguished career as a visual artist and an opera singer. Spanning over six decades, the exhibition focusses on Berksoy’s connection with Berlin, and explores the intersection of her two passions, emphasising her unique, spontaneous, and bold approach to painting. It introduces central themes in Berksoy’s practice: the attachment to her mother, the painter Fatma Saime, the ideological ties with Turkish cultural figures such as poet Nâzım Hikmet, her iconic opera roles, and the places and events that defined her prolific career. With more than 80 paintings and works on paper, along with a wide array of archival documents, film clips, and sound recordings, the exhibition highlights Berksoy’s significant impact on the cultural landscape in Türkiye and beyond.

This is the second edition of a series of publications accompanying major retrospectives of contemporary artists at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. It comprises a number of new and historical texts on Semiha Berksoy, reproductions of all works exhibited as well as installation shots.

Text in English and German.