Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nun Evrensel Sergilerde Resimlerle Temsili (1851-1910)

Abstract

From the mid-nineteenth century onward, the importance of cultural representation increased in universal exhibitions, which were organized to promote industrial production, create markets, and develop international commercial relations. During the late Ottoman period, when modernization gained momentum, these exhibitions became a field of cultural representation that influenced the Empire’s visibility in the world. This thesis aims to examine the painting exhibitions presented at universal exhibitions to which the Ottoman Empire is identified as having sent paintings between the 1851 Great Exhibition in London and the 1910 Brussels International Exhibition, within the context of Ottoman representation, and to reveal the ways in which the Ottoman Empire was represented in these exhibitions. The research employed document analysis, one of the qualitative research methods. Primary sources, including state archival records, exhibition catalogues, memoirs and travel books, and periodicals, as well as secondary sources, including books, articles, and academic theses, were examined. In addition, painting collections were consulted to determine the current status of the works and to access their images and available information. Based on the thesis aim and research questions, the documents were examined and the data obtained were categorized. The findings were presented and interpreted accordingly. Artist and work titles were identified to a large extent, and the works were found to encompass a range of subjects and techniques. The research revealed that painting exhibitions at universal exhibitions represented the Ottoman Empire through a process shaped by various factors, and that, within this representation, the Ottoman Empire stood out both through an Eastern and exotic appearance and as an Empire establishing a relationship with the modern world. It was also determined that the painting exhibitions shared aspects with the other forms of display examined in the thesis in terms of the representation of the Empire.