Distant neighbour, close memories - Exhibition on 600 years of Polish-Turkish diplomatic relations in Istanbuв

6 March 2014

Distant neighbour, close memories - Exhibition on 600 years of Polish-Turkish diplomatic relations in Istanbul

On 6 March, Presidents of Poland and Turkey — Bronisław Komorowski and Abdullah Gül — opened an exhibition in Istanbul that highlights the celebrations of the 600th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries.
The exhibition "Warm memories—distant neighbours. 600 years of Polish-Turkish relations" on display at the Sakıp Sabancı Museum presents centuries-old diplomatic, military, commercial, cultural and people-to-people relations between Poland and Turkey. The event is the result of many years of co-operation between Dr. Nazan Ölçer, the Sakıp Sabancı Museum's Director, and the Polish Consulate General in Istanbul, and Polish academics and museologists in the field of Oriental and Turkish studies.
 
The exhibition features authentic Turkish documents, prints and manuscripts and works of art that recall the most important historical events—intensive political and trade contacts during the Jagiellonian dynasty era, and the tensions and wars that followed ending in the 1683 battle of Vienna. Among the highlighted events is the signing of the Karłowice Treaty in 1699. The treaty ushered in a period of amicable bilateral relations, which in the 19th century had become not only friendly, but even brotherly. The last part of the exhibition is devoted to the participation of Poles in Turkey's life, exemplified by such outstanding personages as Adam Mickiewicz, Józef Bem, Michał Czaykowski (Sadyk Paşa), and Konstanty Borzęcki (Mustafa Celaleddin Paşa).
 
The exhibition, which will run until June 15, is a joint project by the National Museum in Warsaw and the Sakıp Sabancı Museum in Istanbul. The four hundred exhibits come from 36 places in Poland, including state museums, The Princes Czartoryski Foundation, archdiocese museums, churches, monasteries, libraries and private collections.
 
The event will be accompanied by an academic conference and screenings of Polish film classics whose host will be Atilla Dorsay, a celebrated film critic, adviser to the Istanbul Foundation of Culture and Arts (IKSV) and co-founder of the Turkish Association of Film Critics (SIYAD).
 
The project, carried out under the cultural programme of the celebration of the 600th anniversary of the Polish-Turkish diplomatic relations in 2014, is financed by the Ministry of Culture and Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Poland.
 
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