Turkish cultural events rising, new data shows

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

According to the data in TÜİK’s “Cultural Statistics 2010” report, the number of museums operated by the Cultural Artifacts and Museums General Directorate increased by 18.5 percent, reaching 185 by 2010. There were over 3 million pieces of art in museums at the end of 2010, with an increase of 11 percent. Hurriyet photo

The number of people visiting museums, ruins, cinemas and theaters in Turkey has increased in the past five years, according to recent figures from the Turkish Statistical Authority (TÜİK).

The number of people who visited museums and ruins in Turkey in the last five years went up 28 percent to reach a figure higher than 25 million, TÜİK said, adding that the number of people going to movie theaters went up 99 percent in the past five years to 35.7 million.

In the 2009-2010 season, the number of people who went to watch theatrical performances rose 142 percent when compared to the 2005-2006 season to equal 5.2 million.

According to the data in TÜİK’s “Cultural Statistics 2010” report, the number of museums operated by the Cultural Artifacts and Museums General Directorate increased by 18.5 percent, reaching 185 by 2010.

There were just over 3 million pieces of art in these museums at the end of 2010, representing an increase of 11 percent compared to 2005.

In the same period, the number of people visiting museums and ruins also increased. While 19.66 million people visited such sites in 2005, 25.1 million visited museums and ruins last year, amounting to a rise of 28 percent. Nearly 17 million people visited museums and ruins after paying the entry fee while roughly 8 million people visited for free.

The years between 2005 and 2010 were also important in terms of cinema films and viewers. The number of films released in this period increased by 43.5 percent to reach 35,999.

Some 12,885 out of these films were Turkish films while the other 23,114 were foreign films. The number of Turkish films increased by 127.2 percent during the five-year period while the number of foreign films increased by 19.1 percent.

More visitors at heritage sites
Between 2005 and 2010, the number of visitors jumped by just under 99 percent to 35.78 million. Close to 18 million people viewed Turkish films in 2010 – an increase of 58 percent over 2005, while slightly fewer people viewed foreign films, representing an increase of 164.8 percent over the previous five years.

In terms of theater plays and theater viewers, there was also an increase during the five-year period. The total number of plays staged in 2009-2010 season increased by more than five times when compared to the 2005-2006 season to reach 3,694. Among them, 2,918 were Turkish works and 776,000 were translated pieces.

In the same period, the number of theater-goers increased from 2.16 million to 5.24 million. The number of people who viewed Turkish plays increased by 153.5 percent to hit 3.85 million while the number of people who viewed translated plays increased by 117.2 percent to reach 1.39 million.