EXHIBITION PROPOSALS to:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art for the year 2008
From: Bircan Ünver, The Light Millennium, Inc., Public Benefit Organization
Date: March 9, 2008, New York
TURKS: A JOURNEY OF A THOUSAND YEARS, 600 - 1600
Date: 22 January – 12 April 2005
Address: Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly
London, WIJ 0BD, UNITED KINGDOM
Organized by: ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS
SUBJECT: TURKS
This exhibition explores the art and culture of the Turks from Inner Asia to the Bosphorus over a
thousand year period between 600 and 1600 AD. Their journey incorporated many different
centres of power and artistic traditions.
Introduction from the Royal Academy of Arts’ exhibition brochure:
Join this spectacular journey following the rise of the Turks over a thousand years, as they
travel westwards from central Asia through the central Islamic lands and enter Europe, leaving
in their wake an extraordinary visual legacy. Drawn from the celebrated collections of the
Topkapi, Saray, Istanbul, and loans from many other museums, a rich array of over 50 textiles,
carpets, manuscripts, calligraphy, woodwork, metalwork and ceramics will be on display,
showing the staggering artistic diversity and cultural interactions that gave rise to fascinating
aesthetic and cultural riches.
ABSTRACT:
The Royal Academy presents a landmark exhibition exploring the artistic and cultural riches of
the Turks from Inner Asia to Istanbul and beyond. Spanning a period of a thousand years, from
600 to 1600 AD, a rich array of textiles, manuscripts, calligraphy, woodwork, metalwork and
ceramics shows the artistic diversity that culminated in the splendors of the Ottoman Empire.
The exhibition brings together over 350 outstanding works, drawn primarily from the celebrated
collections of the Topkapı Saray Museum and the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art of
Istanbul, including numerous works which have never been exhibited outside Turkey.
Taking visitors on an extraordinary journey, this is the first ever exhibition to explore the
development of Turkic cultures, as they forged their way westwards across the eastern borders
of Central Asia to the Balkans of Eastern Europe. Throughout their nomadic migrations each
group of Turkic peoples appropriated and assimilated the new cultures they encountered. Turks:
A Journey of a Thousand Years, 600–1600 exposes and explores the cultural interactions that
gave rise to the great richness of artistic expression of this period.
The exhibition presents a wealth of material from a momentous thousand-year period. It
introduces the art of the Uyghurs, a nomadic tribal group who first rose to prominence in the 7th
century at the crossroads of the Silk Route in Central Asia and goes on to explore three key
dynasties: the Seljuks (c.1040-1194), the Timurids (c.1370-1506), and an examination of the
Ottomans between c.1453 and 1600. With a combination of charismatic leaders, strategic
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brilliance and military power these groups were able to conquer vast geographic areas and
inspire artists to reach new heights of creativity.
The exhibition brings together the extraordinary drawings by Muhammad Siyah Qalam –
‘Muhammad of the Black Pen’ – one of the greatest treasures of the Topkapı Saray Library,
never before exhibited outside Turkey. Among the numerous masterpieces on display is an
impressive 13th century Seljuk carpet from the mosque built for Sultan Alaeddin Keykûbad in
Konya, and a unique Timurid architectural scroll depicting geometric patterns, measuring 30
metres in length. A wealth of Ottoman treasures includes an armoured kaftan of Mehmed ‘The
Conqueror’, mosaic wooden doors designed by the great architect Sinan for the harem (the
private living quarters of the Sultan) and the ceremonial sword of Suleyman ‘The Magnificent’. In
addition, the opening gallery contains a visual introduction, highlighting architectural sites
specific to each cultural group.
*****
MOTHERS, GODDESSES AND SULTANAS. WOMEN IN TURKEY FROM PREHISTORY TO
THE END OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE:
Date: October 6 2004 – January 16, 2005 – Brussels, Belgium
An Introduction from the BO-ZAR EX-PO brochure:
Women take you on a 9000-year journey through the peoples and cultures that have defined the
history of Anatolia. A fabulous and sensually stimulating exhibition, with more than 350
masterpieces from Topkapi and Several European and Turkish museums.
“Turkish identity has no need to choose between Europe and Asia, between secularization and
Islam, or between East and West. We are ourselves, and that is already complex enough.”
Orhan Pamuk.
Leading museums in Turkey and Western Europe are joining forces for a sensually stimulating
exhibition. The collection of the Topkapi Palace alone – home of the Ottoman sultans—appeals
hugely to the imagination. Unique pieces from the Louvre, the Kunsthistoriches Museum in
Vienna, the museums of Berlin and the most important Turkish museums complete the picture.
Together all these art treasures make Mothers, goddesses and sultanas a must for those who
wish to immerse themselves in the origins of both eastern and western civilizations. The visitor
will also gradually increase his acquaintance with contemporary Turkey.
We encounter the peoples who have left their traces in Anatolia in the course of 9000 years.
The journey takes us through such renowned cultures as the Hittites, Greek and Roman
antiquity, Byzantium and the Ottomans. In each of the four main cultural periods women come
forward to be our guide. The Hittite Queen Putukhipa for example shows us her daily activities,
the last empress of Byzantium evokes the part she played at court and Hurrem Sultan
introduces us to Suleiman the Magnificent.
From prehistoric mother-goddess to empress of Byzantium, from slave to sultana, from
priestess to maids: each in their own way influenced the destiny of their native country and
helped define our contemporary view of ‘woman’ and femininity.
*****
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ANATOLIAN CIVILIZATIONS (Inspired by, “Mexico: Splendors of Thirty Centuries” (1990-91)
exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum.)
Anatolia is one of the rare places in the world, which has been inhabited ever since the first man
was seen on the earth. Since the Stone Age, there had lived many civilizations such as Hatti,
Hittite, Urartu, Phrygian, Lydian, Persian, Roman, Byzantine and Seljukian in Anatolia.
This exhibition aims to reflect those periods of the Anatolian Civilizations with their richest
content. For this purpose, art pieces from the “Anatolian Civilization Exhibition” held in Istanbul
in 1983 & 84 and from various museums of the world will be gathered.
In order to promote the exhibition, an extensive exhibition catalogue will be published,
documentaries will be prepared and presented along with conferences and seminars. Seminars
and conferences will be organized in collaboration with various universities at the venues where
the exhibition will be held.
This is a project of which I have been dreaming since the ““Mexico: Splendors of Thirty
Centuries” exhibition held in Metropolitan Museum in 1990. I have been searching for the
possibilities of realizing this exhibition personally and afterward on behalf of the Light Millennium
organization since then.
*****
2. A First time exhibition: IMPLICATIONS OF THE ISLAMIC & OTTOMAN CULTURE IN
THE MODERN TURKISH ARTS…
Project by: Bircan Ünver
This exhibition will be composed of a wide ranged selection of the Modern Turkish Arts from
1900 up to date. The exhibition will focus on reflections and implications of living in an Islamic
culture and architecture as well as implications of cultural elements from the Ottoman period.
The content of the exhibition will be of art pieces between 300 or 330 including oil, acrylic
paintings, sculptures and ceramics. The exhibition will demonstrate sophisticated examples
from eminent Turkish art figures such as Osman Hamdi, Hoca Ali Riza, Nazmi Ziya, Ibrahim
Calli, Cihat Burak, Erol Akyavas, Adnan Coker, Burhan Dogancay, Komet, Ergin Inan, Balkan
Naci Islimyeli, Ipek Aksugur Duben, Ismet Dogan, Murat Morova and many others…
This exhibition, while illustrating the Modern Turkish Arts and its very distinguished place in the
Middle East and within the Islamic countries, will serve as an extension of the ANATOLIAN
CIVILIZATIONS exhibition, which will also be a unique connection with the Modern Turkey as
well as her modern reflections…
http://www.lightmillennium.org - E-mail: contact@lightmillennium.org
The Light Millennium, Inc., A Charitable – Public Benefit Organization
Phone & Fax: 1-718-441-8811
87-82 115th Street, Richmond Hill, NY, 11418