Simulacra, Soap Operas, and Sacrifice

An Artist Talk with Göksu Kunak

Simulacra, Soap Operas, and Sacrifice: An Artist Talk with Göksu Kunak
In conversation with Léon Kruijswijk
2:00 pm
 
Drawing on influences such as Arabesk culture, late modernity, and orientalist discourse, Göksu Kunak critically examines processes of self-Orientalization as well as strategies of camouflage, self-censorship, and speculative fiction through performance and installation. In the artist’s works, the powerful and hyperreal movements of bodybuilders, pole dancers, and climbers, among other motifs, are testaments to Kunak’s engagement with chronopolitics and hybrid textual forms to explore the performative languages of contemporary life. Join Kunak and curator Léon Kruijswijk as they delve into the artist’s ongoing interest in simulacra and the notion of “crash”; the interplay between kinetic sculpture, spectacle, entertainment, and Turkish soap operas; their exhibition “REMAINS,” opening at Ebensperger during Gallery Weekend Berlin; and a preview of a new production centered on sacrificial rituals.

Göksu Kunak (b. 1985, Ankara) is an artist, researcher, and writer based in Berlin. In 2025 Kunak was awarded the Akademie der Künste Kunstpreis (Berlin Prize for Art) in the category of Performing Arts. Most recently Kunak has focused on score-based performances and installations that investigate the body as both simulacrum and sculptural object, with particular attention to musculature, fortitude, and embodiment. Their work has been presented internationally at institutions and platforms including Performa Biennial, New York; Neue Nationalgalerie, Sophiensaele, and Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin; deSingel Arts Center, Antwerp; and Kaaitheater, Brussels, among others.
Since mid-2025, Léon Kruijswijk (b. 1989, NL) has been Performance Curator at Mudam Luxembourg – Musée d'Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean. At Mudam, he has curated a major Simon Fujiwara retrospective and a performance program titled “A Journey.” The program includes installation and live works by Ivan Cheng, Sojung Jun, Mohamed Toukabri, and SERAFINE1369. Prior to his position at Mudam, he was Curator at KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin. There, he curated large-scale performances of Alexis Blake, Michele Rizzo, and Billy Bultheel & James Richards. He also (co-)curated exhibitions with BLESS, Coco Fusco, Luiz Roque, Sung Tieu, Oraib Toukan, and Miloš Trakilović. As a freelance curator and writer, Kruijswijk has co-curated with Joel Valabrega the Present Future section of the Artissima art fair in Turin since 2024. Kruijswijk frequently collaborates with Göksu Kunak and has written for various art platforms and artist publications.

Price info: plus admission

Next date:

• Date Friday, 01/May/2026 14:00 bis 15:00
• Venue Neue Nationalgalerie
• Address Potsdamer Straße 50, 10785 Berlin-Tiergarten