12 May – 16 September 2018

Weaving History: Mystery Of A City

Koç University Vehbi Koç Ankara Studies Research Center (VEKAM), in collaboration with Rahmi M. Koç Museum Ankara, presents “Weaving History: Mystery of a City”, an exhibition that will run from 12 May until 16 September 2018. At the heart of this exhibition lies Ankara’s historic camlet (sof) fabric, produced from the Ankara goat’s mohair, and showcases this commercial product and the significant place it holds in the history of Ankara. The exhibition displays camlet fabrics and various mohair artefacts from the collections of Ankara Ethnography Museum of the T.R. Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Sadberk Hanım Museum and Topkapı Palace Museum. As a first in Turkey, there are also plans for visitors to view one of Ankara’s most important representations, “View of Ankara”, an 18th century painting depicting Ankara, on loan from the Rijksmuseum in the Netherlands.

Curated by VEKAM Director Filiz Yenişehirlioğlu and Gözde Çerçioğlu Yücel, the exhibition focused on the sof(camlet) fabric identified with Ankara. Connecting Ankara with the rest of the world, camlet weaving and fabric production had a significant role in the economic and social history of the city as it attracted foreign tradesmen who traded it in important European commercial centers such as Venice, Netherlands, Britain, and Poland from the 16th century onwards until the industry’s decline and end in the 19th century. Among the various reasons behind this decline are factors such as global changes in the textile industry, the gradual transformation of foreign trade moving initially towards the export of mohair fiber and then to raw mohair, loss of production knowledge, decrease in the number of looms in Ankara, and the breeding of mohair goats in various parts of the world, especially in South Africa. Today, however, certain individual and institutional projects and productions aim to contribute to the use of mohair in weaving and the textile industry. In this respect, the exhibition showcases modern designs and products that made use of Ankara goat and mohair.

January 6 - January 12 2018

Turkish Knot And Ottoman Galleons

Successful Tile artist Almula İdil Kılıç's tile exhibition titled “Turkish Knot and Ottoman Galleons” was held at the Rahmi M. Koç Museum in Ankara. Nearly 100 works were exhibited in the exhibition, which included the unique examples of the art of tile, one of the rarest cultural and artistic legacies from the Ottoman Empire to the present day.