- This year, the SSM hosted an International Consultative Committee of the world's leading Museum Directors and Scientists at the Sakıp Sabancı Mardin City Museum.
The International Consultative Committee of the Sabancı University's SSM have gathered in Mardin for their annual meeting. During the meeting, this year held at the SSM Mardin City Museum, issues such as the museum's goals, its long term projects, its relationship with the university, future exhibitions, the development of its collections and foreign partnership projects were all discussed. The President of Sabancı University, academic and Manager of the SSM Dr. Nazan Ölçer and other international consultative committee members including Prof. Gülru Necipoğlu from Harvard University, the members of the Department of Islamic Art and Architecture and a number of museum experts participated in the meeting under the chairmanship of the Sakıp Sabancı Museum's Chairman, Ms Güler Sabancı.
The SSM International Consultative Committee consists of Berlin University Academic and former manager of the Berlin Islamic Arts Museum Prof. Dr. Claus-Peter Haase, the Manager of the Paris Academy of Fine Arts Henry-Claude Cousseau, the chairman of the Chateau de Chantilly Conde Museum, curator and member of the French Science Academy Jean-François Jarrige, Sir Norman Rosenthal who was the Exhibition Director at the London Royal Academy for 35 years and who is a member of many prominent art institutes, the manager of Harvard University's museum Dr. Thomas Lentz, the director of the museum at St. Petersburg Hermitage Prof. Dr. Mikhail Piotrovsky, the former manager of International Relations at the New York Metropolitan Art Museum Mahroukh Tarapor, the director of London's Courtauld Art Institute Dr. Deborah Swallow, director of New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Dr. Glenn Lowry and the manager of Berlin's Islamic Arts Museum Dr. Stefan Weber.
A member of the Consultative Committee, Prof. Dr. Oleg Grabar, died in January, 2011. Prof Grabar from Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study was one of the greatest Islamic Art historians.
While the museum aims to exhibit and promote Mardin's urban development and culture, the Dilek Sabancı Art Gallery, which was opened along with the museum, contributes to city's appearance by creating a modern and contemporary art environment at which temporary exhibitions can be staged in Mardin.