GarantiBank is honoured to sponsor the exhibition Turks: A Journey of a Thousand Years, 600-1600. We hope that Turks will bring a new dimension to the understanding of Turks culture and foster a depeer appreciation of its diversity, splendour and impact over the centuries.
The exhibition is between 22nd January and 12 April 2005 in London, The Royal Academy will present a landmark exhibition exploring the artistic and cultural riches of the Turks from Inner Asia to İstanbul and beyond. Spanning a period of thousand years, from 600 to 1600 AD, a rich array of textiles, manuscripts, calligraphy, woodwork, metalwork and ceramics will show the artistic diversity that culminated in the splendours of the Ottoman Empire. The exhibition brings together over 350 outstanding works, drawn primarily from the celebrated coolections 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.
TURKS : A Journey of Thousand years, 600-1600 will be the first ever exhibition to explore the cultural influences and geographic dominance of Turkic cultures across a millenium.
The exhibition will continue the RA's tradition of hosting outstanding exhibitions exploring world cultures, şncluding Africa: The Art of a Continent (1195) and Aztecs (2002) and will be the first largely Islamic exhibition at the RA since the highly popular and critically acclaimed International Exhibition of Persian Art (1931).
The exhibition presents over 35 works from approximately 37 lenders and 11 countries.
A large proportion of works will be shown for the first time outside of Turkey including the majority of surviving drawings by Muhammad Siyah Qalam, 'Muhammad of the Black Pen'
Major works include the wooden doors designed by the great architect Sinan for the Harem of Murad III, dating from c.1578 and measuring over 2.5 metres tall.
Sections of the complete Timurid/Turkmen scroll depicting architectural designs primarilary for the construction of vaults,(late 1400s) which measures approximately 30 metres and shows the compass marks and blind lines used to produce it.
A beautifully preserved carpet, with stylised border, over 6 meters long from the Sejuk period (13th) from the mosque built for Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad, Konya.
A selection of rare Chinese porcelain from the Topkapı Saray Museum who hold one of the largest such coolections of porcelain outside of China.
Elaborately decorated swords and military helmets including those belonging to Sultan Mehmed 'The Conqueror' and the dagger of Sultan Selim I, 1514 crafted from steel, rock crystal and turqoise.
Futher Ottoman treasures include the childhood notebook of Mehmed 'The Conqueror' and an embroidered kaftan colar of Selim II.
The exhibition brings together collaboration between three internationally acclaimed specialists: Filiz Çağman, Director of the Topkapı Saray Museum, İstanbul; Nazan Ölçer, Director of the Sakip Sabancı Museum, İstanbul and David Roxburgh, Professor of İslamic Art at Harvard University.
The exhibition wll be introduced by a newly commissioned video presentation mapping out the geographic locations of the Uyghurs, Sejuks, Timurids and the Ottomans, highlighting architectural complexes specific to each cultural group.
A comprehensive audioguide will be available for every visitor and included in the ticket price.
www.turks.org.uk - a dedicated web site has been created to accompany Turks: A journey of a Thousand Years, 600-1600
www.royalacademy.org.uk - the official web site of the Royal Academy