Günseli Kato

Born and raised in Istanbul, Günseli Kato first became interested in painting in 1974, when she attended Professor Süheyl Ünver’s miniature classes at the Topkapı Palace Museum. In 1981, after winning Japan’s Sato Scholarship, she completed her education working with Professor Hirayama Ikuo in the Traditional Japanese Painting Department of the Faculty of Fine Arts at Tokyo University. Günseli Kato has been teaching Turkish miniature art at the school she attended in Tokyo since 1983. Before returning to Turkey, she worked for 12 years in the studio of Takuo Kato, an expert in Islamic ceramic art. In 1994 a Günseli Kato Turkish miniature class was opened at the Asahi Newspaper Culture Center. Kato continues to teach at this school twice a year. Since returning to Turkey, she has been bringing the traditional together with a contemporary art approach, blending Turkish and Japanese cultures and carrying elements of miniature art into fields such as performance, sculpture and painting. Through cultural elements she both highlights the past and creates a space beyond cultures. She has opened exhibitions bringing together these different art disciplines and ideals at many historic venues in Istanbul, and continues her work. Kato, who continues to teach at Bahçeşehir University’s Faculty of Communication, is involved in new projects of the Mother Child Education Foundation (AÇEV). Since 2010 she has been producing and presenting programs on culture and art on Turkish television channels.