“Heritage Beyond Time: International Silk Road Exhibition and Symposium”, of which the Union of Turkish World Municipalities (TDBB) is among the supporting institutions, was organized in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Konya Metropolitan Municipality, Human and Civilization Movement, Istanbul Commerce University and Bahariye Art Workshops. It was held in Bahariye Mevlevi Lodge in Istanbul between May 30 and June 1, 2024.
The opening ceremony of the Symposium was attended by the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Numan Kurtulmuş, Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Serdar Çam, Union of Turkish World Municipalities (TDBB) and Konya Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Uğur İbrahim Altay, TDBB Secretary General Fahri Solak, IRCICA General Director Mahmud Erol Kılıç. , IMH Honorary President Mehmet Güney, as well as artists and academicians.
Speaking at the Opening Ceremony, Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Kurtulmuş, stated that the Silk Road is located in the heart of the Turkish world, which has a population of approximately 300 million, and forms an international line, and added: “The Silk Road Project, which will include the Turkish world, especially with China’s Road and Belt Project.” It is obvious that they are structures that can be integrated with each other. In the coming period, one of the different areas of struggle in the world system is the new trends that will develop on this multipolarity, especially in Asia. He said that just as one of the epicenters of these new trends was located in Konya, the important caravanserais of the Silk Road in history, Turkey and the Anatolia emerged as the center of gravity of this line in this period.
TDBB and Konya Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Uğur İbrahim Altay said, “Our Konya, which has always had a strategic importance with its 10 thousand years of history, is one of the most important ancient cities on the Silk Road. There are hundreds of caravanserais built on the Silk Road in Konya, which was the capital of the Seljuks for two centuries. Today, some of these works have been standing for centuries as the most important works of the economic and cultural vitality of the period,” he said.
41 artists and 36 scientists from countries such as Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkey and Tatarstan attended the Silk Road Exhibition and Symposium. The Exhibition Catalog and the Symposium Papers Book were printed and presented to the participants.
The symposium, which was held in 11 sessions, included the Silk Road and the Turkish World from Past to Present, Turkish Cities of the Silk Road and Our Civilization Centers, Our Common Folk Heritage and Silk Road Turkish Languages, Trade and Important Branches of the Silk Road, Our Historical Heritage of Science, Philosophy and Wisdom in the Turkish World. Topics such as Cultural Relations and the Impact of the Silk Road, Silk Road as the Route Where Art Meets, Turkish Architectural Tradition and Its Reflections along the Silk Road and New Opportunities for the Future of the Turkish World were discussed.
“Heritage Beyond Time; Silk Road Exhibition” can be visited at the Bahariye Mevlevi Lodge in Eyüpsultan Municipality until June 25.
Within the scope of the project prepared internationally, exhibitions and symposiums will be held in Konya, Uzbekistan’s Samarkand and Tashkent cities, and Azerbaijan’s capital Baku until October 13.
