- GULER SABANCI: "EVERYONE WHO LIVES IN AND LOVES ISTANBUL SHOULD SEE THE LEGENDARY ISTANBUL EXHIBITION"
- "THIS EXHIBITION WILL BE A LESSON ON ISTANBUL FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE AND CHILDREN. I HOPE THAT, BY THESE MEANS, OUR YOUNGER POPULATION WILL GET TO KNOW, LOVE AND PROTECT THE CITY THAT THEY LIVE IN"
One of the biggest events falling within the scope of the "Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture" program will tell of Istanbul's 8000-year history.
Sabancı University's Sakip Sabancı Museum (SSM) is to host the exhibition "Legendary Istanbul - From Byzantion to Istanbul: 8000 Years of A Capital", in cooperation with the Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Agency and under the sponsorship of Sabancı Holding. The exhibition with its over 500 items, to be presented to art lovers between June 5th and September 4th 2010, will display Istanbul's unprecedented 8,000 years of history, a history that has now reached even further back with the Yenikapi excavations undertaken as part of the Marmaray Project. While bringing to light the glorious history of the city that was the capital city of both the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires, from Byzantion to Nea Roma, from Constantinopolis to Istanbul, the exhibition will present in one place treasures that had been scattered to different countries by trade, as presents, or as plunder, such as by the 4th Crusade.
The exhibition will host pieces selected from leading organizations in Britain, Germany, France, Italy, the Vatican City, Hungary, Greece, Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, Ireland, Qatar, Portugal and Russia. The exhibition will also show pieces selected from public museums and from private museums and collections from across Turkey. Through this exhibition, a broad range of works selected from 58 museums - 39 internationally and 19 from within Turkey - will be presented together for the first time.
The exhibition will show how Istanbul became a capital city after the Eastern and Western Roman Empires separated, and how it witnessed a rebirth in 1453 when it was conquered by the Ottomans after the growth, stagnation, decline and fall of the Roman Empire. It will reflect the bright and turbulent stages of Istanbul's history as part of European history, and will introduce the rich tradition that is composed from the legacies of the various religious beliefs that the city has inherited.
In her statement on the topic, Sabancı Holding's Chairman of the Board Guler Sabancı said that, as Sabancı Holding, they were happy to make another contribution to Turkey's cultural life through their support of the "Legendary Istanbul - From Byzantion to Istanbul: 8000 Years of A Capital" exhibition.
In her statement, Guler Sabancı expressed these views about the exhibition: "the Legendary Istanbul exhibition must be visited by everyone living in or that loves Istanbul. Through this exhibition that displays the 8000-year history of the city that we live in, we will witness how it became one of the major centers of civilization, step by step, starting from the very first settlements. I believe that people who visit our Legendary Istanbul exhibition will start to look at Istanbul from a very different perspective. This exhibition will be a lesson on "Istanbul" for every youth and child who visits it. I hope that our younger population can, in this way, come to know, love and protect the city that they live in. So, in particular, young people should visit this exhibition.
The Legendary Istanbul Exhibition uses an exhibition technique that has so far been used only in a limited number of museums in the world. Interacting with the presentation techniques designed by Boris Micka, one of the leading figures in exhibition architecture in the world, visitors will witness a unique exhibition experience. I mean that the visitors will not only tour the exhibition, they will also "live" it."
With the Legendary Istanbul Exhibition, a far richer and more comprehensive collection is brought together in Sakip Sabancı Museum following the "From Byzantium to Istanbul: One Port for Two Continents" exhibition. More than 500 pieces from 40 museums internationally and from collections across Turkey will tell the story of Istanbul to the exhibition's visitors.
Prime Minister Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan will participate in the opening ceremony of the Exhibition. The public can visit our exhibition starting from June 5th. As Sabancı Holding, we also realized the first of the "2010 European Capital of Culture" events with our "Venice and Istanbul during the Ottoman Period; Love, by any other name" exhibition. Now we are putting our signature on its most important event with our "Legendary Istanbul - From Byzantion to Istanbul: 8000 Years of A Capital". I would like to thank the Executives of the Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Agency and Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Hayati Yazici for their contributions to the Legendary Istanbul Exhibition project."