The Tanzimat period, which began in 1839 and is considered to have ended in 1876, with the adoption of the Ottoman Constitution, marks an era of profound change. The establishment of civil law structures coincided with a redevelopment of the language, which was reflected by a specific terminology. What is remarkable is that this process was not triggered through colonial intervention, but was initiated out of the country’s own initiative.

The exhibition, with works by Hüseyin Alptekin, Carola Dertnig, Esra Ersen, Franz Kapfer, Gülsün Karamustafa, Marko Lulic, Victor Man, Füsun Onur, Kamen Stoyanov, Vangelis Vlahos and Simon Wachsmuth, makes a point of casting a differentiated glance on these emancipatory developments, thus opening a discourse that leads us back to historical events decisively
influencing the advancement of European culture.