With great shock and sorrow, we must share that Yishay Garbasz passed away unexpectedly. The beloved 55-year-old resident of Berlin left this world suddenly in March 2026, taking with her a creative spirit and fierce advocacy that had illuminated themes of identity, resilience, and justice for audiences around the globe.
Born in Israel in 1970 and based in Berlin since 2005, she had built a life as an interdisciplinary artist whose work blended photography, performance, and deeply personal exploration of trauma and memory. Her sudden departure has left family, friends, and the international artistic community in profound mourning, as they grapple with the loss of a woman whose presence challenged perspectives and fostered profound connection through her art and her life.
Yishay was a gifted artist and photographer celebrated for her ability to capture truth and humanity through her work. Her projects often traced the inheritance of traumatic memories, most notably in “In My Mother’s Footsteps,” where she retraced her mother’s Holocaust survival path, and in pieces that confronted borders, xenophobia, and the body as a site of both vulnerability and strength.
She also documented her own gender affirmation journey as a trans woman, becoming Germany’s first trans woman triathlete while living with the lasting effects of an earlier epoxy poisoning that caused chronic lung issues. Through every medium she used, her images and performances invited viewers to confront difficult histories with empathy and courage.
Her art often reflected themes of identity, resilience, and justice, resonating with audiences across the globe and earning recognition in exhibitions and publications that celebrated her unflinching honesty. Colleagues and admirers recall her dedication to truth and her ability to challenge perspectives through her work, whether exploring the DMZ between North and South Korea, contested border zones, or the personal and cultural weight of survival.
The artistic community mourns her passing while celebrating the indelible mark she left on the world. In Berlin, where she made her home for more than two decades, fellow artists and friends have begun sharing stories of her warmth, her sharp intellect, and the way she mentored others with generosity and insight. Her legacy extends far beyond galleries and publications, living on in the conversations she sparked about memory, belonging, and the courage to live authentically amid hardship.
