SMYRNA IN THE 18TH AND 19TH CENTURIES: A WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

25 September 2013 – 29 December 2013

With the narratives of Western travelers who visited Izmir in the 18th and 19th centuries, this exhibition presents an opportunity to see the city – which used to be one of the most important centers of trade, diplomacy and culture of the Ottoman Empire—from another perspective.

Smyrna has attracted the attention of many travelers on their journeys to the east and has thus become the subject of many works with its deeply rooted history, the vividness and the richness created by the coming together of different cultures,. The exhibition presents the viewers with a journey of Izmir from the perspectives of travelers, who, in 18th and 19th centuries set off from Marseille—the most important port of the Western Mediterranean—and reached Izmir via the sea. It provides a reflection of Izmir of the past, in the light of travel books, photographs, etchings, paintings in addition to documents about trade, population and social life from the era.

Within the scope of the exhibition are around three hundred documents and artworks which have been collected from leading European museums, libraries and private collections and most of which have never been exhibited before.