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With the special
exhibition "The Long Journey: 1500 Years of Turkish Cultures"
the Linden-Museum Stuttgart has chosen a pertinent topic in today's
world, one relevant to the expansion of the European Union into
eastern Europe. The history of Turkish Cultures has been particularly
influenced by migration and by socio-cultural and religious diversity
and, this being so, has contained mechanisms to deal with this
meeting of different cultures. The aim of the exhibition is to
provide a comprehensive insight of this history that can assist
in deepening German-Turkish dialogue today.
This exhibition presents a unique and comprehensive overview of
the manifestations of Turkish cultures and empires from their
beginnings in the 6th century AD in Central Asia going on through
westasian area to the ottoman and republican Turkey, starting
with art and culture of the Ghaznavids and Seljuks. An important
component exhibits the new artistic impulses that resulted from
the encounter of Seljuk art with the emerging Ottoman culture,
and also discusses Ottomans' pivotal historical and cultural place
in Asia Minor and the Balkans. The exhibition also shows the interweaving
between aspects of culture such as the religious and the profane.
In the section showing the 19th and 20th centuries Ottoman Empire-Turkish
Republic the ethnic and religious diversities of a multicultural
society are introduced.
The priceless artifacts, ceramics, textiles, and calligraphy on
display are from the collections of the Linden-Museum and museums
such as the Museum for Islamic Art, Berlin and the State Museum
for Ethnology, Munich. Also included in the exhibition is a typical
element of daily life in Turkish culture, a shadow puppet theatre,
Karagöz.
The catalogue is set out as a reader for Turkish history and combines
a wealth of images with academic contributions following the exhibition
concepts. It looks at the multi-religious and multi-cultural concerns
of Turkish art and culture. It also looks at the positive strengths
of migration, an enriching element in Turkish history that this
exhibition hopes will encourage and stimulate a more open attitude
towards the phenomena of migration and multiculturalism in our
own society.
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