Gülsün Karamustafa’s practice continually returns to the layered terrain of memory, displacement, and belonging. For over four decades, she has moved fluidly across mediums—installation, textile, painting, collage, video—without ever losing sight of the intimate, often fragmentary materials that shape lived experience. Her practice does not monumentalize the past; it gently shifts through it, attentive to the personal and political traces. Global Fascisms presents a selection of works by Karamustafa addressing different periods in Turkey and the world. These works express her commitment to documenting, engaging with, and resisting political oppression throughout these periods. The 1970s were a turbulent time for Turkey, with a number  of violent state-led or far-right attacks, including a 1971 military intervention and the 1980 coup d'état. Karamustafa’s paintings such as Soldier (1976) and Window (1980) reflect the political unrest and the tension between private and public spaces. Painting for poster – 1977 First of May (1977) responds to the fatal attack on leftist protestors at Taksim Square in Istanbul on 1 May 1977. The painting commemorates the 36 people who lost their lives in gunfire from the police. In the installation Stage (1998), the artist uses a personal photograph of herself and her husband during their 1971 military court trial. The rotating light that projects the text ‘Stage.Control.Regime. Ideology’ moves slowly over walls, ceiling, and floor like a searchlight over a prison yard. In the exhibition it now creates a theatre stage of a different kind. Her new installation Reminder (2025), composed of twenty-five panels, resembles a political mural. From its bold and brilliant colours, the piece invites the audience to take a closer look at the first 25 years of this century, recognizing the protest signs against the resurgence of global fascisms and the censorship they ignite. Karamustafa creates a space for reflection, a place where remembering calls for history not to repeat.

With the kind support of SAHA.
Reminder commissioned by Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), co-produced by Gülsün Karamustafa and HKW, 2025

WORKS IN THE EXHIBITION: From left to right: Painting for poster – 1977 First of May (in that bloody celebration 36 People Lost their Lives with Gun Fire from the Police) (1977), mixed media on paper, framed: 84 × 62 × 5 cm; Soldier (1976), mixed media on paper, framed: 70.5 × 58.5 cm; Window (1980), mixed media on paper, framed: 73 × 66.5 cm; Reminder (2025), mixed media, dimensions variable; Stage (1998), digital print and projection, 110 × 130 cm. Courtesy of the artist and BüroSarıgedik. Soldier and Window Salt Research, Gülsün Karamustafa Archive