THE VISUALIZATION OF THE REVOLUTIONS IN NATION STATE BUILDING PROCESS IN TURKEY: SEEKING MUSEUM OF REVOLUTION IN ANKARA

Abstract

People’s Houses that served as a bridge between the state and people carried out activities of museology and exhibition across the country to popularize the revolutions during the early Republican era. One of the most important parts of such activities were the exhibition of “Ankara in Revolution” organized in the capital in 1934. This exhibition aimed to preserve the historical memory while displaying how the Republic was founded to the citizens. There was a cultural dynamism in the fields of language and history in the 1930s and efforts made to the visualization of such developments. In fact, this exhibition was the first seed of the long standing efforts. In other words, It was assumed that this exhibition would form the basis of the Revolution Museum, which was planned to be established in the following years. The documents and items related with Liberation War and Republican revolutions were collected in the exhibition so that the visitors could encounter authentic items as much as possible. Raising the citizens’ awareness of history through the visualization of the revolutions was not special to Turkey.The Revolutionary Museum of the Soviet Union in Moscow, the Die Front exhibition in Germany and the Mostra Della Rivoluzione Fascista museum in Italy set an example for the young Republic. The idea of the establishment of a revolution museum was subsumed under the programme of the Republican People’s Party and it drawed firm support from the state. Thus, it flourished as an idea supported by many state apparatus. However, such an idea would take many years to be acceptably materialized. The collection of the items related with the Turkish Liberation War and Revolutions took a long time due to bureaucratic reasons. Nevertheless, visualization and museology loomed large in the making of Turkish national identity and its consolidation. The museology branch of People’s House that took roots like a tree across the country played a leading role for the adoption of the Republican revolutions by all the citizens.