Aziz Ogan and the Development of Archaeological Museums in the Turkish Republic

Abstract

This article explores the contribution of Aziz Ogan (1888–1956) to the development of museological practices in Turkey, after the establishment of the Republic in 1923. Ogan exerted a key influence on the history of this discipline in the country: during the first part of his life, he was the main curator and director of the Izmir museum, and he later became the director of the Istanbul Archaeological Museum, one of Turkey’s major museological institutions. As curator of these two institutions, Ogan contributed to their radical transformation: new galleries were opened to the public, objects started to be catalogued systematically and scientifically, and laboratories dedicated to the restoration of objects were created.Through a careful analysis of Ogan’s biography and his curatorial work, this article aims to understand the change in curatorial practices in relation to the historical and cultural transformations which took place in Turkey during the first decades of the Republic. Furthermore, it explores the role of a curator and his individual agency within the wider historical context of Turkey in the first half of the twentieth century.