Ankara Türk Ocağı Heritage Exhibition Shows 52 Works for the First Time

The Türk Ocağı Cultural Heritage Exhibition has opened at the Ethnography Museum in Ankara. It presents 70 works chosen from 1,306 items that the museum received in 1978 from the Türk Ocakları collection. According to a museum official, 52 of them are on public display for the first time.

The exhibition is titled “Tarihten İzler” (Traces of History). It was organised under the patronage of Türkiye’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism. A group of seymens, traditional Turkish horsemen who perform in ceremonial dress, gave a show before the opening.

What officials said at the opening

Serkan Gedük, head of the Museums Department at the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums, said museums carry traces of the past into the present. He said the 70 works were selected from the 1,306 pieces transferred in 1978. He also confirmed that 52 of them are being exhibited for the first time.

Mehmet Öz, president of Türk Ocağı, described the organisation as a centre of ideas and culture. In his words, it helped lead the revival of the Turkish nation as the Ottoman state declined, and it continued this role during the National Struggle. He thanked the ministry and the museum for the exhibition.

Öz also said that when Istanbul was formally occupied for the second time, British forces locked the doors of the Türk Ocağı building and took away papers they were seeking. This is his account at the event, not an independent historical finding.

Türk Ocağı heritage in a national museum

Türk Ocağı, meaning “Turkish Hearth,” is a cultural association whose branches were first opened in the early twentieth century. Its collection was therefore tied to the late Ottoman and early Republican years. The exhibition places part of that material in a state museum for visitors.

The Ethnography Museum is one of Ankara’s best-known museums, and it holds objects of daily and traditional life. The source does not say which kinds of objects are on show. It also gives no closing date, so visitors should check the museum before they go.

Others at the opening included Resim ve Heykel Müzesi director Erdem Akkurt, Ethnography Museum director Veysi Gün, invited guests and students.

Source: SonDakika
Featured image: Bernard Gagnon / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0