“Men Should Know How To Maintain and the Women Should Know How to Settle” The Role and Position of Women by Women Artists in Turkey from the Tanzimat Period until Contemporary Turkey: with Two Case Studies of Major Exhibitions in 1993 and 2011

This thesis will consist of two parts and three chapters. The first part will start with an overview of women artist in Turkey between the 1830’s and the 1990’s. The 1830’s are The Tanzimat Period15 of the Ottoman Empire, which is the starting point of modernization in social and political life. This modernization has resulted in women becoming more visible in the social life and started to be educated in arts. The second chapter will focus on the Dream and Reality exhibition organized by Istanbul Modern Museum. I will also evaluate these exhibitions in terms of two types of museums that Eilean Hooper-Greenhill describes in her book Museums and the Interpretation of Visual Culture. Hooper- Greenhill categorizes museums in two; fist being the modernist museum and the second is the post museum. The main distinction between them is, the modern museum focuses more on crating grand narrative sand educating the society. The post museum is more about the experience of the visitor and...Show moreThis thesis will consist of two parts and three chapters. The first part will start with an overview of women artist in Turkey between the 1830’s and the 1990’s. The 1830’s are The Tanzimat Period15 of the Ottoman Empire, which is the starting point of modernization in social and political life. This modernization has resulted in women becoming more visible in the social life and started to be educated in arts. The second chapter will focus on the Dream and Reality exhibition organized by Istanbul Modern Museum. I will also evaluate these exhibitions in terms of two types of museums that Eilean Hooper-Greenhill describes in her book Museums and the Interpretation of Visual Culture. Hooper- Greenhill categorizes museums in two; fist being the modernist museum and the second is the post museum. The main distinction between them is, the modern museum focuses more on crating grand narrative sand educating the society. The post museum is more about the experience of the visitor and museum aims to create a space for different perspectives and values to be discussed. One of the aims of my thesis is to contribute to the museum studies in Turkey by bringing the concept of post museum into the discourse. I will try to prove that Istanbul Modern is a post museum through its permanent collection, its temporary exhibitions and also with its educational programs. The exhibition will be analyzed in detail and compared with the 1993 Female Artists exhibition. The second part of this thesis will focus on the three major issues these women artists are focusing on: women as the symbol of modernity in Turkey; gender and body; and also identity derived from and tested against artworks from the Dream and Reality exhibition under discussion.Show less

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“Men Should Know How To Maintain and the Women Should Know How to Settle” The Role and Position of Women by Women Artists in Turkey from the Tanzimat Period until Contemporary Turkey: with Two Case Studies of Major Exhibitions in 1993 and 2011