Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart is presenting the first comprehensive retrospective in Germany of the Turkish painter and opera singer Semiha Berksoy (1910 – 2004). Berksoy studied at the Hochschule für Musik 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 traces Berksoy’s continued 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 painter mother Fatma Saime, the personal ties with Turkish cultural figures like poet Nazim 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 Turkey and beyond.
After achieving acclaim in Turkey in the early 1930s, Berksoy received a Turkish government scholarship to Berlin and enrolled at the Hochschule für Musik from November 1936 until July 1939. She quickly gained recognition and was described as a “powerful soprano,” with a “tenacious spirit.” In 1939, Berksoy starred in the title role of the Hochschule für Musik’s production of Ariadne auf Naxos, performed in Berlin for Strauss’ 75th birthday. She then returned to Turkey due to the outbreak of WWII. There she supported the establishment of the Turkish State Opera and Ballet and Ankara State Conservatory with German actor and director Carl Ebert. However, Berksoy’s connections to Berlin persisted, with a solo exhibition of her paintings at Haus am Lützowplatz in 1969 and her work included in exhibitions such as Recent Art from Istanbul (Haus der Kulturen der Welt, 1998) and Istanbul Next Wave (Martin-Gropius-Bau, 2010). Berksoy’s career seamlessly blended opera and visual art. She remained active as an opera singer, performing the Liebestod aria from Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde at the Lincoln Centre in New York in 2000 at the age of 90, four years before her death. Her visual art was featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions, and international biennials including, most recently, a 1965 portrait of her mother in this year’s Venice Biennale. The exhibition at Hamburger Bahnhof is arranged along a series of clusters that act as operatic vignettes, where Berksoy’s figures appear like characters on a stage. They are presented alongside rare recordings of Berksoy from the 1930s until the early 2000s.
Accompanying the exhibition is an edition of the Hamburger Bahnhof catalogue series, published by Silvana Editoriale Milano.
The exhibition is curated by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, directors of Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. Assistant curators Emily Finkelstein and Agnes Rameder, Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie Gegenwart.
The exhibition is supported by Hamburger Bahnhof International Companions e.V.
Press release from Hamburger Bahnhof – National Gallery of Contemporary Art
Image: Semiha Berksoy © Image courtesy of the Estate of Semiha Berksoy and GALLERY
