Eyewitness from Anatolia: Mudurnu in the Early Republican Era through the Lens of Bengüboz



‘The Historic Guild Town of Mudurnu’, one of the sites on Türkiye’s UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List, was an important Early Ottoman centre of trade and the Akhi Order (Anatolian guilds), strategically located on the Silk Road, and a patriotic town of the new Turkish Republic. Ahmet İzzet Bengüboz was a Mudurnu countryman who learned the art and technique of photography in a British camp, where he was held prisoner during the First World War. He applied his newfound art upon returning home, producing a valuable record of the town’s social life in that era.

About 100 years later, this collection of high historic and artistic merit is being presented in an exhibition and catalogue. Prepared with the partnership of Koç University’s Vehbi Koç Ankara Studies Research Center (VEKAM), Mudurnu Municipality and Mudurnu District Governorship, with contributions from the Bolu Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, the exhibition will open in 2016 Ankara, Istanbul ve Mudurnu. The first show will be open between 19-30 April 2016 in the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Ankara with the support of Çankaya Municipality.

Bengüboz @ Ankara