Talk: Zeynep Ahunbay
Salt Ulus
September 12, 2013 19.00
SALT Ulus, Ankara
“A Pioneer Conservationist oƒ the Young Turkish Republic: Ali Saim Ülgen (1913-1963)”
The last parallel event organized for the exhibition Modern Turkey’s Discovery of the Ottoman Heritage: The Ali Saim Ülgen Archive at SALT Ulus will be a talk by architectural restoration expert Zeynep Ahunbay.
Following his deep interest in cultural heritage for his professional career, Ali Saim Ülgen published his book entitled Anıtların Korunması ve Onarılması [Conservation and Restoration of Monuments] in 1943, an important work for its contribution on conservation education and theory. This book was the first of a series about conservation released by the Turkish Ministry of Education. Because Ülgen died very young, the second volume of his book was never realized. Based on his first volume and unpublished documents from the archive, Ahunbay will evaluate the contribution of Ülgen to the restoration and conservation history of Turkey.
Member of the Restoration Department of Architecture Faculty at ITU, Prof. Zeynep Ahunbay has worked with Prof. Metin Ahunbay on the restoration of the Land Walls (1991-1994), Hagia Sophia (1994-2000) and Pantocrator Monastery Church (2001-2004) in İstanbul. Among her many publications, the most recent ones are Cultural Heritage of Turkey (2009), Selimiye Mosque and Its Social Complex (2012) and Istanbul: A World’s Heritage Site (2012).
The talk will be held in Turkish.