ISTANBUL.- In its 21st anniversary year—marked by reaching 11 million visitors in December 2025—Istanbul Modern opens 2026 with two major exhibitions debuting in January and February. Artistic Director Çelenk Bafra notes:
“At the heart of this year’s program stands Semiha Berksoy: Aria of All Colors. Semiha Berksoy’s extraordinary universe is a testament to the boundless possibilities of artistic creation. Spanning opera, painting, theater, cinema, and literature, her work reflects a life shaped by unyielding courage and an unwavering devotion to art. Originating at Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin, this major retrospective arrives in Istanbul in an expanded form that delves deeper into Berksoy’s creative processes, enriched with sound recordings, moving images, ephemera, and archival materials. Here, her voice, her rhythm, and the dramatic intensity of her world unfold across our galleries, inviting viewers to engage with the artistic mythology she forged over nearly a century.
Complementing this historical depth is Panorama: Dreams and Places, a sweeping look at the last decade of lens-based practices in Türkiye. The 18 artists in the exhibition respond to the urgencies and fractures of contemporary life by constructing dreamlike landscapes, imagined realms, and inner geographies. Their works are not escapes from reality but meditations on its emotional and spatial possibilities. Through installations, moving images, AI explorations, and archival interventions, the exhibition reaffirms photography as a medium that not only documents the world but also builds new ones—creating moments of stillness, breathing room, and renewed attention.
Together with these two major exhibitions, our 2026 program extends from the ongoing installations by Chiharu Shiota and Ali Kazma to a comprehensive calendar of film screenings and conversations, from the evolving layers of our modern and contemporary art collection display to the architectural vision of Renzo Piano. Each exhibition and program invites audiences to pause at a different threshold, to encounter new perspectives, and to inhabit other worlds.”
Beginning January 22, Aria of All Colors brings forth the many layers of Semiha Berksoy’s (1910–2004) world, highlighting the singular connections she forged between opera, theater, painting, and writing. Featuring more than 200 works—from early drawings to opera-inspired paintings, from self-portraits and portraits to large-scale sheet paintings—the exhibition presents Berksoy’s personal mythology and her profound relationship with performance through a thematic structure. The exhibition Semiha Berksoy: Singing in Full Color (December 6, 2024–May 11, 2025) was first presented at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart Hamburger, where it was conceived as an operatic stage and curated by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, with curatorial assistance by Emily Finkelstein and Agnes Lammert. For the presentation at Istanbul Modern, it has been expanded in scale and reconfigured with a new title and curatorial framework. The exhibition is prepared by Öykü Özsoy Sağnak, Chief Curator of Istanbul Modern, together with Curator Deniz Pehlivaner and Assistant Curator Yazın Öztürk.
Opening February 19, Panorama: Dreams and Places presents a thematic narrative of contemporary photography and lens-based art in Türkiye over the past decade. The participating artists respond to today’s pressures and upheavals through dreamlike landscapes, alternative visual geographies, and imagined realms shaped by their artistic approaches. Exploring the many possibilities of photography, the exhibition spans installations, moving images, artificial intelligence applications, and archival materials. In doing so, it reminds us that photography not only reflects the world but also constructs new emotional and spatial imaginaries, inviting moments of stillness, contemplation, and renewal. The exhibition features works by Larissa Araz, İlgen Arzık, Emre Baykal, Silva Bingaz, Hasan Deniz, Umut Erbaş, Cem Ersavcı, Ece Gökalp, Cemre Yeşil Gönenli, Ege Kanar, Zeynep Kayan, Metehan Özcan, Yusuf Sevinçli, İrem Sözen, Selim Süme, Kerem Uzel, Begüm Yamanlar, and Cansu Yıldıran, and is curated by Artistic Director Çelenk Bafra and Head of Photography Department Demet Yıldız Dinçer, together with Selen Erkal and Şevval Yürüten from the curatorial department.
The exhibition catalogue for Semiha Berksoy: Aria of All Colors features texts by scholar, writer, and theater critic Dikmen Gürün; scholar Ayşe Güngör; artist Elif Uras; Sam Bardaouil, Deniz Pehlivaner, and Öykü Özsoy Sağnak, as well as an interview conducted by theater and film artist Zeliha Berksoy with Yazın Öztürk. The catalogue for Panorama: Dreams and Places includes commissioned texts on the artists and essays by Istanbul Modern Photography Advisory Board members and curators Refik Akyüz and Serdar Darendeliler; photographer and scholar Orhan Cem Çetin; and exhibition curators Çelenk Bafra and Demet Yıldız Dinçer.
