Turkey’s art temple in Ankara reopens after one-year hiatus

ANKARA

Hosting the most valuable works of Turkish art history, the Ankara State Painting and Sculpture Museum reopens after nearly a year of restoration.

The opening will take place today with a ceremony attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

As part of the opening program, a concert will be given to commemorate the 101st anniversary of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s arrival in Ankara to start the War of Independence.

Comprehensive restoration work on the historical building and works of the museum started in December 2019.

The original state of the building was preserved as a result of the maintenance carried out with the contributions of the expert staff of the Culture and Tourism Ministry and academics from various universities.

The institutional identity and technical infrastructure of the museum, which has incorporated the most precious works of Turkish art history in the field of visual arts since 1980, has been restructured in accordance with the understanding of contemporary museology.

Detailed information of the artifacts in the museum collection was digitized and recorded with the comprehensive inventory study.

The museum, which is a cultural center where the first concert, the first opera show and the first theater play were staged in the Republic period, is also planned to host programs that will be followed with curiosity by art lovers in the 400-seat concert hall.

Ankara’s landmark

One of the most magnificent buildings of the First National Architecture Period, the museum building was built between 1927-1930 as the headquarter of the Turkish Hearths, a non-governmental organization.

In a competition held in 1926, the project of architect Arif Hikmet Koyunoğlu, who built the Ethnography Museum with the directives of Atatürk, came first and the construction of the building started.

The iconic building was officially allocated to the General Directorate of Fine Arts to be used as a painting and sculpture museum in 1975.

Under the supervision of Koyunoğlu, the landmark was restored to its original and it was opened as a museum in 1980 with a ceremony.

The museum brought dynamism to Ankara’s culture and art scene with activities such as the Asia-Europe Art Biennial, national and international exhibition organizations, various symposiums, meetings, conferences and concerts.

The museum houses one of the most important collections of Turkish painting art with 3,629 pieces in its inventory.

With its collection, the site provides an opportunity to witness the changing art perceptions and major historical processes in Turkey from the end of the 19th century to the present.