Celebrating Anatolian women's perseverence in new museum

İZMİR

The Woman’s Museum includes a total of 13 rooms with various purposes. Mayor Hakan Tartan (L) says their goal is to create a venue unique to women in the museum.

The fifth ring of İzmir’s Konak Municipality’s boutique hotel chain is a Woman’s Museum, which opened on Jan. 23. The purpose of the museum is to show the forgotten past and power of the Anatolian people to the world, reveal the creativity of Anatolian women, boost their self-confidence and to create a special venue for women.

The museum includes a total of 13 rooms for temporary exhibitions, video art, women from past to present, women in Anatolia in the ancient era, pioneering women, collection artworks, protests and women, installation, workshop, archive, storage, library and management. Each room has a different concept.

The entrance of the museum welcomes visitors with a photograph showing Mustafa Kemal Atatürk dancing with his adoptive daughter Nebile Hanım in her wedding with Vienna Head Clerk Tahsin Bey in 1929 in Ankara Palace.

Through the stairs, visitors see the photos of 50 female figures, including Turkey’s first theater artist Afife Jale, the first gravure artist Aliye Berger, one of the first deputies Benal Arıman, the first female nurse Esma Deniz, the first female athlete who competed in the Olympics, Üner Teoman, the first female petroleum engineer Halide Ural Türktan, the first female military pilot in the world Sabiha Gökçen and the first female supreme court member in the world Melahat Ruacan. Women, who made their mark in Turkish history, such as archaeologist Muazzez İlmiye Çığ, Afet İnan’s daughter Ari İnan, actress Ayşen Gruda, singer Nurhan Damcıoğlu, politician Güldal Mumcu and designer Zuhal Yorgancıoğlu have also contributed to the museum by donating their personal belongings.

A venue unique to women

Konak Mayor Hakan Tartan stated their goal was to create a venue unique to women in the museum with human-centered understanding rather than object-centered understanding. “What we are doing in this venue is not excluding women from their own society and create gender discrimination, but gather original artwork and visual-audo materials to reveal the creativity and productivity of women; in this way to strengthen their ties with society,” the mayor said.

“Women form the half of the population. All of us say we are with women, but we are not effective enough in showing it. As the Konak Municipality, we are showing that we are for women in a real sense. Another goal of the Women’s Museum is to become a center against violence against women and oppressive policies that have been increasing in recent years. Women will say ‘stop’ to violence and pressure and open the doors for new excitement and hope,” the mayor added.

The Women’s Museum is located in one of the oldest neighborhoods in İzmir, the Akıncılar neighborhood in Basmane. The 486-square-meter building is made up of a basement floor, ground floor, mezzanine floor and the first floor. The main entrance door of the building is cast iron and its wooden shutter is original.