Whilom Çanakkale
Civil Life in A city that is traversed by war
Documentary Exhibition
2015 is a year in which the city of Çanakkale is on the agenda again in the context of World War I at national and international levels. It is the centenary of Çanakkale Land and Sea Wars. War is being researched, examined and commemorated with its different dimensions and somehow the history and social memory are renewed. At this point, the city of Çanakkale, which was deeply affected by the war, contemplates the current agenda produced over this respectable and tragic legacy, just as it contemplated the bombs exploding in Gallipoli a hundred years ago.
However, the Dardanelles Sea and Land Wars passed through this city itself; The city was not only the target of bombs but also experienced the processes of war, occupation and the War of Independence. Under the influence of these phenomena, it underwent dramatic changes and transformations.
The multicoloured, multi-lingual and multicultural coexistence tradition, which is nourished by the 19th-century maritime trade, lives only today in the remaining architectural structures and in the photographs that bear witness to the past. The destruction and migration caused by the war, changes in the context of world order and national borders have transformed this small port city irrevocably.
Whilom Çanakkale Exhibition aims to trace these processes of change and transformation. In 3 chapters, a half-century history is depicted: Çanakkale, the port and trade city of the 19th century; World War I and the subsequent occupation; Reconstruction after the war and the construction of the Republic.
During the exhibition, a process of compiling information and documents based on multi-faceted and layered research took place. At this point, oral history studies, academicians specializing in urban history, local and national and international archives and documents, researchers and city experts who worked on local culture and history, people who pursued narratives from family ancestors and ancestors, provided us with the greatest contribution. The scientific and non-scientific information gathered in the research was used together, thus, in the light of the available data, a narrative that was built from the stories was created rather than a proof of scientific reality.
The exhibition shows the point of these compilation and research studies; however, such a comprehensive and multidimensional work cannot be concluded with just one exhibition. This content will be enriched with the contributions of the visitors during the exhibition and this content will be left to the service of the citizens as public memory, an archive that can be applied by all Çanakkale residents, experts from the country and the world.
with the support of the Çanakkale Municipality
