Gün + Partners Visits Istanbul Modern’s “Semiha Berksoy: The Aria of All Colors” Exhibition
Yesterday, we visited the “Semiha Berksoy: The Aria of All Colors” exhibition at Istanbul Modern.
Semiha Berksoy was not only Türkiye’s first female opera singer, but also one of the powerful symbols of the Republic’s cultural transformation. Seeing opera, theatre, cinema, and painting not as separate disciplines but as parts of a single creative world, Berksoy played the leading role in Özsoy, the first Turkish opera staged in Türkiye, became one of the first Turkish artists to perform on European opera stages, and continued to create throughout her life, inspiring many generations.
At a time when women’s visibility in the public sphere was highly limited, her presence at the center of the stage and her international achievements also made her one of the symbolic figures in the story of women’s emancipation and modernization in Türkiye.
We thank the Istanbul Modern team for this impressive exhibition, which once again reminds us of the power of art, culture, and pioneering ideas to transform societies.