At the Tunceli Museum, under the name “Kemahlıoğlu Special Collection,” the exhibition of Osman Hamdi Bey, known as “The Name that Brought Museology to Turkey,” who is also a painter and archaeologist, brings together 38 works by 21 artists, prepared using different techniques, with art viewers.

The project, curated by Caner Kemahlıoğlu, is also supported by the Museum Directorate of Tunceli city, the Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism, and the Governorship. The exhibition program will continue from May to September.

In celebration of Museum Week from May 17 to 24, 2024, the following artists and their works will be presented to art viewers as part of the Kemahlıoğlu Special Collection:

• Muhammet Hızır Yüksel – “A New Interpretation of the Theologian”
• Metin Aykanat – “A New Interpretation of the Arms Dealer”
• Ali Rıza Kanaç – “A New Interpretation of the Dervish at the Prince’s Tomb”
• Özgür Boran Gültekin – “The Theologian’s Desk” and “Atatürk”
• Şerife Meral Eşmeler – “Quran Lesson at the Green Mosque,” “A New Interpretation of the Dervish at the Prince’s Tomb” on Chalcedony Stone
• Onur Kavas – “The Tortoise Trainer,” “Izzettin Keykavus” and “Girl Reading the Quran” tiles
• Dilara Nur Kahraman – “Osman Hamdi Bey and Baltazzi,” “Special Design”
• Buse Akdoğan – “Sivas’ First Museum Buruciye Medrese,” “Sivas High School”
• Büşra Meydan – “Girl Reading the Quran”
• Deniz Serkan Özcan – “Little Red Riding Hood”
• Günsu Saraçoğlu – “Two Musician Girls on an Ostrich Egg”
• Fadime Yıldırım – “Original Postage Stamps”
• Erdoğan Paksoy – “Trainer of the Future I and II” and “Blonde with Blue Eyes”
• Melih Can – “Fountain of the Water of Life”
• Oğuzhan Bahadır Coşkun – “Naile Hanım in the Footsteps of the Past”
• Gizem Tokay – “Istanbul Lady”
• Okan Karakaya – “Two Musician Girls”
• Turgay Çakmak – “Atatürk”
• Ayşegül Baş – “The Most Beautiful Names of Allah”

The exhibition, prepared with the idea “If Osman Hamdi Bey, an archaeologist and painter, were a painter from Sivas, how would he reflect the historical textures and motifs of Sivas in his works?”, will be open to visitors for four months at the Tunceli Museum, specially for Museum Week in 2024.

Opening a Window to History Through the Historical Texture of Places

Drawing from the values that Osman Hamdi Bey’s contributions to museology have brought to our country, Kemahlıoğlu indicated that the exhibition venues should be places with a historical past, specifically a historic museum. He decided to designate Tunceli Museum as the new venue for the exhibition, starting preparations for the collection exhibition’s opening at one of Tunceli’s significant historical buildings.

Evaluating the city from different perspectives, Kemahlıoğlu also explores the impact of people on these venues in the preferred locations of the collection. In discussions with some of the collection artists, inspired by the theme “If Osman Hamdi Bey Were a Painter from Sivas,” Kemahlıoğlu explained that while approaching the artworks from this perspective, they explored the historical structures and stories of the city. At the same time, they focused on preserving the originality of both the Ottoman and Western influences in their new interpretations.

Özgür’s Perspective on Anatolia “Solo Exhibition”

We have completed the final preparations for Özgür Boran’s solo exhibition, which I am curating, and are ready to meet art enthusiasts on May 17, 2024, as part of the special program for Museum Week at the Tunceli Museum.

Artist’s Approach to His Works

In art, which is a form of expression, the realities of the society in which one lives and the traces of these realities on the artist’s identity are recreated in the artwork.

In the exhibition titled “Özgürce” (Freely), the initial pieces include images of wall tapestries found in village houses of the artist’s native region, paintings with ancient symbols, and photographs of ancestors attached to these. This design, reflecting the ancestor cult, represents a ritual where the household, waking up at dawn each morning, salutes the sun and their ancestors.

Another symbol of this poor peasant class, engaged in agriculture and livestock, is their shoes, which are featured in the “Karalastik” series. These shoes are used in the paintings as a class indicator. In subsequent works, various social classes are expressed through the image of shoes.

The series of paintings where social gender and the image of women find meaning through women’s hair is another part of the exhibition. Women’s hair serves both as an identity marker and a means of rebellion. Representing the concept of belonging, women’s hair is featured in various narratives within different contexts.

The artist continues his painting journey with works that focus on traditional images related to social gender and cultural values.

Exhibition Venue: Tunceli Museum

The building that houses the Tunceli Museum was constructed as a military barracks between 1935 and 1937. It was used as a military barracks until 1949, after which it was transferred from the Ministry of National Defense to the Ministry of Finance. After undergoing renovations, the building served as staff housing from 1949 until the 1990s. Up until February 2015, it was home to approximately 65 families.

Due to its characteristics of the Early Republican Period, the building was registered by the Erzurum Cultural and Natural Heritage Preservation Board. Following the preparation of a project and subsequent correspondence, the building was allocated to the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 2015 for use as the Tunceli Museum.