The very first curatorial work in Turkey started in the mid- 19th century. In 1846, during the Sultan Abdülmecid era, Field Marshall Ahmet Fethi Pasha of Tophane-i Amire (can-non Factory) initiated the works by collecting old weapons and old art works and storing them in Hagia Eirene. In Tanzimat (reforms) Period, Hagia Eirene took the name Müze-i Hümayun (Imperial Museum).
Modern curatorial work in Turkey was initiated by famous painter and curator Osman Hamdi Bey at the end of the 19th century and it recorded significant improvement after the foundation of the Republic. The main reason for this improvement is the importance Atatürk attached to research on cultural assets and the steady rise in the number of museums all over the country. When the Republic was proclaimed there were the İstanbul Archeological Museum known as the “Asar-ı Atika Müzesi” (Museum of Antiquities), the Military Museum housed in St. Irene, the Evkaf-ı İslamiye Müzesi (Museum of Islamic Foundations) within the Süleymaniye Mosque Complex and branches of the Müze-i Humayun (Imperial Museum) opened in some large cities of Anatolia.
The Topkapı Palace, having been converted into a museum together with its furnishings and effects, was opened to the public in 1927. The Evkaf-ı Islamiye Museum was reorganized as the “Museum of Turkish and Islamic Works of Art” and the Mevlana Dervish Lodge in Konya was converted into a museum in the same year. The Ankara Ethnographical Museum, the first building in Turkey originally designed as a museum, was opened to the public as well. New museums were also established in Bursa, Adana, Manisa, İzmir, Kayseri, Antalya, Afyonkarahisar, Bergama and Edirne.
The Hittite Museum, set up in the Mahmut Pasha Bedesten in Ankara in 1940, was restored in 1967 and renamed the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. At present there are 188 museums around the country affiliated to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 125 private museums and 1,444 private collections, all under the su-pervision of these directo-rates.
The artworks which comprise the collections of these mu-seums generally belong to various ages of civilization in Anatolia and have been unearthed in archeological excavations most of which started in the 1930s. Besides the enormous archeo-logical collections, items belonging to Eastern Art and also to the Turkish-Islamic period comprise the second largest group. In addition, there are memorial museums associated with Ottoman history, the National War of Independence and the republican reforms, which have been restored in authenticity together with their own furnishings.
A model of the house in which Atatürk was born in Salonika was built in Ankara and turned into a museum. This mu-seum, displaying Atatürk’s life and principles in documents and manuscripts, is open to the public.
In addition, the buildings in which Atatürk conducted the National War of Independence and the buildings in which he was hosted during his visits to various cities were also con-verted into museums.
Still another group of museums in Turkey are the Museum Houses and Memorial Museums. The Çakırağa Mansion in Birgi; the Hazeranlar Mansion in Amasya; Ziya Gökalp’s House in Diyarbakır, and Tevfik Fikret’s Aşiyan House in İstanbul may be cited among such museums.
The preservation of buildings of historical interest in the form of museums began in the 1930s. The Dolmabahçe Palace, Hagia Sophia (St. Sophia), Kariye Church, Fethiye and İmrahor mosques in İstanbul and the Yeşil Türbe (Green Tomb) and Muradiye Complex in Bursa are the most significant examples of such museums. Moreover, the ruins of many ancient cities have also been converted into open air museums. The Boğazköy, Ephesus, Bergama (Pergamum), Aphrodisias, Aspendos, Karatepe, Göreme and Perge open air museums are the most important ones.
Turkey also cooperates with international organizations con-cerned with historical heritage and curatorial. The Internatio-nal Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and the In-ternational Council of Museums (ICOM), which are attached to UNESCO, have their.
The İstanbul Museum of Turkish and Islamic Works of Art which won the Distinguished Museum award of the Council of Europe in 1984, and the Sadberk Hanım Museum, which received the Europe Nostra award in 1988, are examples of prizewinning museums in Turkey.
Furthermore, the Antalya Museum was awarded the Museum of the Year Honorable Mention in 1988,
the İstanbul Archeo-logical Museums won the Council of Europe Award in 1989,
the Bodrum Underwater Archeology Museum won the Museum of the Year Honorable Mention in 1995,
the İstanbul Rahmi Koç Industrial Museum won the Special Museum Award in 1996,
the Ankara Museum of Anatolian Civilizations won the Museum of the Year in Europe award in 1997,
and the Health Museum (Private Museum) affiliated to Trakya University won the Museum of the Year in Europe special award in 2003.
Every year, national and international exhibitions are orga-nized in order to display the valuables owned by Turkey. In 2008 the following such exhibitions were organized: In Japan, “Treasures of Topkapı Palace-The Great Ottoman Dynasty”, in Spain, “Golden Lines, Ottoman Calligraphy from Sakıp Sabancı Museum”, in Sweden, “Porcelains from Top-kapı Museum and İstanbul Turkish and Islamic Artworks Museum”, in England, “Hadrian”, in Germany, “Evet, Ja, Ich Will, Wedding Culture and Fashion from 1800 to today: A German-Turkish Comparison”, in Turkey, “Cross-sections form Jewish Culture”, “Lale, Kaftan ve Levni: Kaftans and miniatures from Topkapı Palace”, “Palimsests Reclaimed: Reclaimed layers and Beyond Babylon in America: In 2,000 B.C., Art, Commerce and Diplomacy”, and in Qatar, “Beyond the Borders”.
In İstanbul, “The Mysterious Civilization of the Phrygians”, “Searching for Beauty in the Anatolian Land”, “Ephesus Arthemission: Holly Residence of a Goddess”, “Aphrodis-sias”, “The Lure of the East”, “The Tailor of the Palace: The Dresses Made for the Ottoman Palace by a Lavender Fa-mily”, and in Ankara, “Anatolian Justice in Ancient Times” exhibitions were organized in 2008.
Prepared by
Kutlay DOĞAN, Türkiye, Ankara 2009
(This publication has been prepared for the Directorate General of Press and Information of the Prime Ministry..)
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