Mosaic Road Project moves to Venice

ISTANBUL

The Mosaic Road Project, developed by the Turkey ONE (T-ONE) Association, which was assembled to introduce Turkey’s cultural heritage to the world, has been presented at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection Modern Art Museum in Venice.

Speaking at the event, T-ONE Association President Demet Sabancı Çetindoğan said, “To a certain extent, each country has historical artifacts in its territory. These artifacts have a history of sometimes hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands of years. They don’t actually belong to the people, institutions or governments established on the territories where they are located, like other objects, but rather they are entrusted to them. And we wish to uncloak this treasure that has been hidden for thousands of years, to be known by everyone as a world heritage and to provide our country with a brand new field of cultural tourism. This is our goal with the Mosaic Road Project.”

The T-ONE Association, which develops national and international projects to introduce the unparalleled historical heritage of Anatolia, is aiming to provide a brand new cultural route to Turkey with the Mosaic Road Project.

Venice was the second international stop of the project, the first act of which was carried out at one of the famous tourism centers of Switzerland, Gstaad, in February. 

Alongside the HRH Princess Marie Gabrielle of Savoy, Princess Caroline Murat, His Excellency Aydın Adnan Sezgin, Turkish Ambassador to Italy and Honorary Consul of Turkey in Venice Flippo Olivetti and the presidents of significant organizations of Italy such as Venetian Heritage Foundation President Totto Bergamo Rossi, prominent actors of the culture and art world and the foremost collectors of Italy were among the guests of the event. 

In addition to the current collection of mosaic pattern dresses specially designed for the Mosaic Road Project, Turkish designer Özlem Süer designed new ones inspired by a mosaic recently found in the eastern province of Hatay which conveys the message: “Be happy, live life to the fullest.”

The creation was presented at the launch event which took place during Venice Bienalle 2016.

Selim Doğru, a Turkish composer living in the Netherlands, arranged one folk song from each city which is home to the mosaics, to be played one harp. 

With the support of the Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality, a rich menu of cuisine from the southern province prepared by Chef Mehmet Ragıp Güzelbey and his team was presented to the guests. 

The T-ONE Association, upon the special attention and request of the distinguished guests of the event, will conduct its first ever “Mosaic Road” tour in September together with these important names. 

Stating that the project would also be presented at leading museums in England and the U.S., Çetindoğan said, “It is extremely important to preserve, maintain and promote not only our artifacts but also the artifacts of all nations in order to make people understand how valuable they are for future generations. Thus, we are conducting our activities meticulously with this understanding.” 

The Mosaic Road Project:

Excavations conducted in the last century in the Turkish provinces of Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Gaziantep and Şanlıurfa revealed numerous mosaic artifacts embodying the traces of countless civilizations, cultures and belief systems dating back to 4,000 B.C. These precious artifacts shed light on history and offer great insights into the era, as well as the country and the entire world.

With the project, the T-ONE Association aims to ensure this area gains recognition around the world as the “Mosaic Road” to help the local people better understand the value of the mosaics at these sites in order to guarantee their support for the protection and promotion of the region and to cooperate with leading tourism companies operating in the region and across Turkey in order to identify and increase the tourism attraction potential of the Mosaic Road, as well as to internationally promote the unique history of our lands through Turkey’s newest tourist site.