New Exhibition: A diary of the first year of the Republic

The Republic is walking! Karagöz (Blackeye): Walk my dear child, walk, look, your elder sisters are calling you. Run to them, my dear. You can grow up scot-free and become a big man as long as you are in these compassionate arms. (Karagöz magazine, January 9, 1924)

Click to read the article in Turkish

The first year of the Republic of Turkey was, naturally, the most dynamic, and busiest year of this Republic proclaimed on October 29, 1923, the 100th anniversary of which we will be celebrating soon. 

After years of wars, and pandemics; full of political debates; with novelties in almost all spheres of life, the economy, education, the judicial system; experiencing population exchange, migrations; an agitated period...

Adoption of the Constitution, the abolition of the caliphate, radical changes towards secularism, and reconstruction of the country...  And the flow of life that accompanies all these, the daily events, sports and art activities, concerts, and cultural trends between October 29, 1923, and October 29, 1924...

"Leblebici Horhor", a film shot by Muhsin Ertuğrul in 1923 (Roasted Chickpea Seller Horhor) 

The exhibition covers political events, and not only those but also the daily lives of the people, things people talk about.

You can follow the traces of a period from which there is not much visual material left in this exhibition called "The First Year of the Republic," at the Yapı Kredi Museum Gallery. 

The exhibition to last until September 3, 2023, flows day by day in chronological order. The whole printed media of the period has been studied for the project including those in the Press Museum and the national library.

A book prepared by Banu İşlet, Binnur Mörel Büyükertan, and Eser Demirkan called "The First Year of the Republic" was published by the Yapı Kredi Yayınları Publishing Company preceding the exhibition. 

Cengiz Kahraman is the curator of the exhibition and the exhibition designer and curatorial collaborator was Yeşim Demir - Pröhl . 

Demir - Pröhl has said, "The exhibition has a structure as if we are walking through a memory book or diary of the first year of the Republic. We tried to construct a backbone for the exhibition. 

Heavy rain in August

The heavy rain that started on August 6 in İstanbul caused damage in many houses in the city. A child was drawned in Beşiktaş and a woman was lost. The districts worstly hit by the rain were Aksaray, Yenibahçe, Beşiktaş, Kasımpaşa and Eyüp. (Cumhuriyet newspaper, August 9, 1924)

Sporting Palas in Taksim Square where films were screened, theater plays took state and activities such as roller hockey took place, the Saray Theater at Dolmabahçe, the removing of the curtains inside the trams with advances in gender equality, the fashion of the time including the judiciaries, addvertisements, a 24-hour dancing competition, the first productions of Kemal Film... Images from all will be imprinted in your mind, day by day, in this exhibition. 

Do not marry!

Do not marry! Do not marry without visiting the underwear and dowery set shop of Lazaro and Franco and Their Sons in Galata. (Vatan newspaper, April 12, 1924)

Celebrations and ceremonies

The proclaiming of the Republic and the celebrations on its first year, the ceremony held in Dumlupınar on August 30, 1924 where the Battle of Dumlupınar was won, and the first anniversary of Liberation of İstanbul, celebrated on October 5-6, 2024 have been placed at the heart of the exhibition. 

The events reflected in the newspapers or magazines are presented with the related images/documents. This also gives the visitors information about the language, the page design,the graphical design of the press at the time. The visits that President Mustafa Kemal makes in the country and the initiatives take for the reconstruction of the country are shown in the exhibition. 

Türkiye İş Bank, Eminönü Bahçekapı branch employees

(AÖ/PE)