Biography

Gülsün Karamustafa is a Turkish visual artist and filmmaker born in 1946 in Ankara, who lives and works in Istanbul and Berlin. Through her art practice, spanning the course of over fifty years, she focuses on such topics as the modernisation of Turkey, uprooting and memory, migration, locality, identity, cultural difference and gender from an array of perspectives. Within her works, which stem from both personal and historic narratives, she champions the use of disparate materials and methods. Through media as diverse as painting, installation, photography, video and performance, she calls into question historical injustices in the social and political fields.

Karamustafa has participated in numerous international biennials, including Istanbul (TR); São Paulo (BR); Gwangju (KR); Kyiv (UA); Singapore, SG; Havana (CU); Thessaloniki (GR); Sevilla (ES). She has presented solo exhibitions at major institutions and galleries worldwide, including Salt Beyoğlu and Salt Galata, Istanbul (TR); Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin (DE); Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (NL); IVAM Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, Valencia (ES); EMST National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens (GR); Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn (DE); Lunds Konsthall, Lunds (SE); Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg (AT); Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel (DE); Museum Villa Stuck, Munich (DE), among others.

Her works have been included in the permanent collections of Centre Pompidou, Paris (FR); Tate Modern, London (GB); Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (US); Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago (US); Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris (FR); Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (NL); Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin (DE); Ludwig Museum, Cologne, DE; MUMOK, Vienna (AT); Wien Museum, Vienna (AT); Warsaw Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw (PL); EMST National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens, Athens (GR); Istanbul Modern Art Museum and Arter, Istanbul (TR).

She received the Roswitha Haftmann Prize in 2021 and Prince Claus Award in 2014.

Images: Gülsün Karamustafa, The 60th International Art Biennale - La Biennale di Venezia 2024.
Photos by RM Photostudio, courtesy of Gülsün Karamustafa and BüroSarıgedik