EXHIBITIONS

Beneath the Same Blue 

September 8, 2026–December 31, 2027 

Istanbul Modern’s 10th collection exhibition brings together works by artists from Türkiye and different parts of the world, produced across various periods and geographies, along historical and thematic axes. Spanning the museum’s permanent exhibition gallery and different floors of the museum, the exhibition traces the transformation of modern and contemporary art in Türkiye since the 1940s, while offering new ways of reading the collection through encounters and dialogues established with works by international artists, particularly from the 2000s onward. 

The exhibition takes its title from a color that connects various times, and experiences. “Beneath the Same Blue” approaches blue as both a color and a backdrop that evokes seas, horizons, dreams, freedom, distances, and affinities. Bringing together works produced in different periods and contexts, the first section of the exhibition focuses on the development of modern and contemporary art in Türkiye from the 1940s to the 2000s. Structured around a historical trajectory, this section begins with the early examples of abstract art and extends to diverse forms of figurative expression, changing aesthetic approaches, and the social and artistic questions that come to the fore in artists’ practices.

The second section presents a selection of works produced after 2000 under thematic headings. Bringing together artists from across generations and geographies under the same roof, the selection makes visible the changing forms of artistic expression and the plurality of perspectives on today’s world. Through media such as painting, video, photography, sculpture, and installation, the exhibition addresses contemporary questions including abstraction, figure and body, identity, city and space, migration, war, memory, and nature. Each section invites viewers to move through layers of art history and contemporary art through selections that focus on the aesthetic and intellectual atmosphere of a particular period. 

“Beneath the Same Blue” considers the works in the collection within the artistic tendencies of the periods in which they were produced, while also opening Türkiye’s changing social, cultural, and political climate to reflection in dialogue with international artistic practices. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue featuring comprehensive illustrations and texts on the artists and artworks, along with essays by Istanbul Modern Artistic Director Çelenk Bafra, “Expanding Horizon of the Museum: The Collection,” Curator Deniz Pehlivaner, “Beneath the Same Blue,” and İstanbul Modern Collection Advisory Board member Prof. Dr. Esra Aliçavuşoğlu, “Rethinking the Collection: On Time, Knowledge, and Representation,” all of which further deepen the exhibition’s conceptual framework.

Artists: Kuzgun Acar, Erdağ Aksel, Erol Akyavaş, Nevin Aladağ, Haluk Akakçe*, Ersin Alok, Hüseyin Bahri Alptekin, Özlem Altın, Halil Altındere, Ghada Amer, Refik Anadol, Hakkı Anlı, Koray Ariş, Yüksel Arslan, Volkan Aslan, Tomur Atagök, Nancy Atakan, Vahap Avşar, Georg Baselitz, Bedri Baykam, Aliye Berger, Sabri Berkel, Burçak Bingöl, Albert Bitran, Mark Bradford, Lee Bul, Cihat Burak, Tülay Tura Börtecene, Hera Büyüktaşçıyan, Daniel Buren*, CANAN, Hussein Chalayan, Anthony Cragg, Aslı Çavuşoğlu, Fulya Çetin, Adnan Çoker, Richard Deacon, Nejad Melih Devrim, Tiraje Dikmen, Şükriye Dikmen, Abidin Dino, Antonis Donef, Burhan Doğançay, İpek Duben, Mandy El-Sayegh, Âbidin Elderoğlu, Olafur Eliasson, Tracey Emin, Neş’e Erdok, Cevdet Erek, Ayşe Erkmen, Erol Eskici, İnci Eviner, Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu, İnci Furni, Candeğer Furtun, Attila Galatalı, Leyla Gamsız, Leyla Gediz*, Liam Gillick, Guerrilla Girls, Tanya Goel, Katharina Grosse*, Deniz Gül, Ara Güler, Bedia Güleryüz, Mehmet Güleryüz, Neşet Günal, Nedim Günsür, Selma Gürbüz, Nilbar Güreş, Altan Gürman, Thilo Heinzmann*, Gözde İlkin, Ahmet Doğu İpek, Fatoş İrwen, Balkan Naci İslimyeli, Nuri İyem, Zeki Faik İzer, Mirak Jamal, Gülsün Karamustafa, William Kentridge, Anselm Kiefer, Komet, Füreya Koral, Azade Köker, Guillermo Kuitca*, Alicja Kwade, Renée Levi*, Julie Mehretu, Yıldız Moran, Sarah Morris, Hermann Nitsch*, Mahmoud Obaidi, Hans Op de Beeck, Julian Opie, Füsun Onur, Mübin Orhon, Kemal Önsoy, Serkan Özkaya, Claudia Pagès Rabal, Sedat Pakay, Bettina Pousttchi, Laure Prouvost, Anselm Reyle, Necla Rüzgar, Sarkis, Elif Saydam*, Thomas Scheibitz*, Yaşam Şaşmazer, Nevhiz Tanyeli, Ayça Telgeren, Hale Tenger, Güneş Terkol, Canan Tolon, Seyhun Topuz, F. Tülin, Vahit Tuna, Selim Turan, Ömer Uluç, Elif Uras, Burhan Uygur, Adrián Villar Rojas, Zhan Wang, Richard Wentworth, Nil Yalter, Haegue Yang, Fahrelnissa Zeid, Yılmaz Zenger 

Exhibition Curators: Çelenk Bafra, Deniz Pehlivaner 

Assistant Curator: Naz Uğurlu Benek, Exhibition Producer: Selen Erkal 

*2027 onwards 

Panorama: Dreams and Places 

February 19–October 18, 2026 

Aiming to present a thematic narrative on contemporary photography and lens-based art in Türkiye, “Panorama: Dreams and Places” brings together a comprehensive selection of works produced since the 2010s by 18 artists from different generations. The exhibition is on view in the galleries on the first floor of Istanbul Modern. The participating artists respond to the pressures and upheavals of today’s world through dreamlike landscapes, alternative visual geographies, and imagined realms shaped by their artistic practices. 

Through abstract topographies, fictional portraits, and inner spaces, these works do not offer an escape but rather create spaces where breathing – and pausing – become possible again. Reflecting the artists’ inquiries and explorations into the possibilities of photography, the exhibition spans a wide range of practices, from installations and moving images to 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. 

Artists: 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, Cansu Yıldıran 

Exhibition Curators: Çelenk Bafra, Demet Yıldız Dinçer Curatorial Team: Selen Erkal, Şevval Yürüten 

Semiha Berksoy: Aria of All Colors 

January 22–September 6, 2026 

“Aria of All Colors,” a major exhibition devoted to Semiha Berksoy (1910–2004), celebrates a pioneering artist whose versatility and resolve enabled her to break new ground in both Türkiye and Europe. The exhibition brings together her expansive body of work – spanning the performing arts, visual arts, cinema, and literature – and offers a comprehensive look at the creative universe she built over the course of her extraordinary career. With more than 200 works on view, the exhibition makes visible the many layers of Berksoy’s world while highlighting the singular connections she forged between opera, theater, painting, and writing. 

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 she starred in, the plays she performed, 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. Drawing on the dynamism of Berksoy’s life, these works both broaden our understanding of the universality of art and illuminate the creative force of the human spirit. 

Curators: Öykü Özsoy Sağnak, Deniz Pehlivaner 

Assistant Curator: Yazın Öztürk 

Renzo Piano: Genius Loci 

“Renzo Piano: Genius Loci” focuses on the architecture of Istanbul Modern’s new museum building and its design and construction process, which spanned six years. Designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW), the new building greets art lovers at the same location where Istanbul Modern opened its doors in 2004 as Türkiye's first museum of modern and contemporary art. The title of the exhibition refers to the architectural understanding of Renzo Piano, whose vision is to integrate tangible elements and non-physical qualities of the building site. 

“Renzo Piano: Genius Loci” examines in detail the design process and structural components of the new museum building, which Piano designed taking inspiration from the light and atmosphere unique to the Bosphorus and Istanbul. The exhibition also surveys the various artistic and cultural projects that Renzo Piano has realized throughout his career in different parts of the world as well as the transformation Istanbul Modern has undergone since its foundation. “Renzo Piano: Genius Loci” is located at the entrance of the library on the museum’s ground floor, which is open to the public free of charge. A Turkish-English monograph on Istanbul Modern’s new building, prepared by the Renzo Piano Foundation as part of the book series on RPBW buildings, presents the reader with a record of the new building’s journey. 

Curator: Ümit Mesci 

Workshops 

Family Art Workshops 

2–10 years old 

On weekends, Istanbul Modern carries out education programs that children can participate with their families. Designed in parallel with exhibitions and led by a museum educator, the programs are organized for families of children of different ages. 

Click here for details.