Dolmabahçe Exhibition Reimagines Ottoman Art in Paint
Uğur Mine Tamay's 50 paintings reinterpret Ottoman heritage at the Palace Collections Museum until Oct. 18.
A new Dolmabahçe Palace exhibition in Istanbul shows how Ottoman visual traditions can live on in contemporary painting. “Geçmişin Mirası: İzlerden Ufuklara” (“Legacy of the Past: From Traces to Horizons”) presents work by artist Uğur Mine Tamay. It stays open at the Palace Collections Museum until Oct. 18.
The National Palaces Administration and the Family and Youth Movement of the Century Association (YÜZAG) organized the show together. According to Anadolu Agency, the opening drew guests from politics, culture and the arts.
What the Dolmabahçe Palace exhibition shows
Tamay says the show includes 50 paintings and three works that incorporate traditional clothing. It follows her 44-year career, from 1982 to the present. She says she began with oil painting on canvas and later moved into three-dimensional work.
The motifs come straight from Ottoman material culture. They include imperial monograms, whirling dervishes, tombak metalwork (a decorative metal craft), tiles, ornate doors, textiles, bowls, swords, shields and imperial caiques (slim wooden boats). In her compositions, these objects become building blocks rather than simple illustrations of the past.
Tamay says she drew inspiration from objects in the Topkapı Palace Museum. She then combined them in what she calls a museum-like concept. “All the paintings reflect my own personal synthesis,” she said.
Calligraphy, marbling and handmade paper
Her three-dimensional pieces use calligraphy, marbling (the decorative paper technique known in Turkish as ebru), Ottoman embroidered handkerchiefs and antique objects. She also uses handmade paper, which she says is designed to last for centuries.
Tamay describes her style as a mix of realism and abstraction. In her words, time and place in the paintings remain uncertain, while each work offers a universal and personal reading. The exhibition text also lists miniature painting among the traditional arts she combines with a modern aesthetic.
Why the venue and organizers matter
Dolmabahçe Palace is one of Istanbul’s best-known palace complexes, so the setting suits a show about heritage. Officials at the opening framed the exhibition in cultural terms. Istanbul Deputy Governor Esengül Korkmaz Çiçekli linked art to miniature painting, visual arts and music in Turkish and Muslim civilization. Beyoğlu District Governor Abdullah Atakan Atasoy said understanding the past means using it to enrich the present and shape the future.
YÜZAG Chairperson Güleser Topuz said this is the association’s first painting exhibition. She said the group has branches in Bursa, Bilecik, Ankara, Trabzon and Şanlıurfa, with its headquarters in Istanbul. Tamay serves as its general art coordinator.
For viewers of Ottoman-themed series, the show offers a different kind of encounter with the same visual world. It is an artist’s interpretation, not a historical reconstruction. Visitors have until Oct. 18 to see it at the Palace Collections Museum.
Source: Daily Sabah (with Anadolu Agency)
Featured image: Julian Lupyan / Wikimedia Commons, CC0
