New exhibition in İstanbul: 'The adventure of Byzantine studies in Turkey'

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Koç University Sevgi Gönül Byzantine Studies Center (GABAM) is holding an exhibition called "The Adventure of Byzantine Studies in Turkey" in the scope of the Sevgi Gönül Byzantine Studies Symposium.  

The exhibition which focuses on the multi-cultural nature and the story of the institutionalization of Byzantine studies in Turkey can be seen until March 31, 2024, at ANAMED (Koç University Anatolian Civilizations Research Center) in İstanbul. 

Koray Durak from the Boğaziçi University History Department known for his studies on Byzantine history is the curator, while Merve Özkılıç, the Projects Coordinator at GABAM, is the editor of the exhibition. 

Many different materials, such as archive documents or videos, can be seen for the first time in the exhibition. 

Advancing in chronological order, and under different themes, the viewers can examine the story of institutionalization of the Byzantine studies in the rhetoric of the Republic of Turkey. This process is explained especially through the opening of the history departments and history of art departments at the universities starting in 1923 until the 1990s.

The second part of the exhibition focuses on scientific meetings, past exhibitions, architectural studies, and museum works from the 1990s until today. 

The last part of the exhibition gives those who are interested in education and in books a new point of view. 

Ass. Prof. Koray Durak 

Koray Durak lectures at the Boğaziçi University History Department at graduate and post-graduate levels on Byzantine history, the Late Antique Period and Byzantine period literature, the history of the Mediterranean in the Middle Ages, etc. His research covers the Byzantine-Islam relations, the Mediterranean economy in the Middle Ages, the commercial life in Costantinapolis, the history of medicine in Byzantine, and the representation of the Byzantine in modern periods. 

He was the curator of the Byzantine part of an exhibition at the Sakıp Sabancı Museum in 2010 called "From Byzantine to İstanbul - Legendary İstanbul - 8000 years of a Capital." He held the exhibition called "A Byzantine City in the Anatolia: Amorium" at the Boğaziçin University in 2017.  (AÖ/PE)