Public art in Turkey

between politics and aesthetics

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.60056/CCL.2017..70-82

Keywords:

public art, Turkish sculpture, Kemalism, secularism, Turkish cultural identity

Abstract

What we may call “public art” in Turkey starts with the establishment of the Turkish Republic itself. Mostly, it is associated with monuments and sculptures in public spaces in the modernising urban environment within the newly founded secular state that brought changes not only to the way of life and its dynamics, but also to the entire system of values and the aesthetics of space. The most popular public space, the square, altered completely its function and vision: from being entirely the domain of men enclosed between the mosque, the bazaar, and the coffee-house, to becoming the vital point of the new Europeanised Turkish cities highlighting thus the national identity and memory, and the new political order. This brief survey focuses on the different approaches to public spaces in Turkey and to public works of art, which are more than just ideological instruments of power. The study of this situation in a society that is concerned with its own identity appears as one of the most important issues of contemporary public art in Turkey. On the other hand, public art raises awareness about the value of art in public dialogue, and helps bring forward new interpretations and artistic quests.

Author Biography

  • Yordanka Bibina, Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski"

    Assoc. Prof. Yordanka Bibina, PhD, graduated in Turkish Philology from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. She began her career as a journalist at the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA), but since 1984 has been working at the Institute for Balkan Studies with the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. She is Head of the Cultural History of Balkan Nations Department. Her PhD thesis was on the cultural policy of post-war Turkey, 1945-1960. Her scientific interests are in the field of Turkish literature, culture, and art, and cultural interrelations in the Balkans, and Balkan identities. Y. Bibina wrote the first History of Turkish Literature in Bulgarian. She has taught History of Turkish Literature, Contemporary Turkish Art, and Theory of Translation at New Bulgarian University, Sofia, South-West University “Neofit Rilski” in Blagoevgrad, and “Konstantin Preslavsky” University of Shumen. Y. Bibina has translated several novels and two poetry collections from Turkish into Bulgarian. 

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Published

2025-11-06

Issue

Vol. 3 (2017)

Section

Pars pro toto. Proceedings of the Literature Session of the 11th CONGRESS OF SOUTH-EAST EUROPEAN STUDIES

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How to Cite

Public art in Turkey: between politics and aesthetics. (2025). Colloquia Comparativa Litterarum, 3, 70-82. https://doi.org/10.60056/CCL.2017..70-82