Piri Reis and Katip Çelebi Set Out to Discover America!

Piri Reis and Katip Çelebi Set Out to Discover America!

MEDAM, our country's first Center for Civilization Studies operating within Bahçeşehir University, has now taken its exhibition "The Ottoman View of the World from Piri Reis to Katip Çelebi", organized as part of the celebrations of the 400th anniversary of Katip Çelebi's birth, to the USA.

The exhibition, which previously met Turkish history enthusiasts in Istanbul and Ankara, has now been unveiled in the US state of California. Prepared with the support and patronage of our Ministry of Culture and Tourism and through the joint work of Bahçeşehir University Center for Civilization Studies, the exhibition is being displayed in cooperation with California State University, San Bernardino.

The exhibition, which will be open to visitors at the California State Anthropology Museum from 19 to 31 October, was opened by R. Hakan Tekin, Consul General of Türkiye in Los Angeles; Enver Yücel, Chair of the Board of Trustees of Bahçeşehir University; and Albert R. Karnig, President of California State University, San Bernardino.

While Albert R. Karnig, President of California State University, San Bernardino, drew attention to the diplomatic importance of the exhibition, which shows the strengths and values of contrasting cultures, Enver Yücel said: "We need to introduce such scientists of the past to the whole world. Our duty is to do our best for sustainable peace." In his speech, Hakan Tekin, Consul General of Türkiye in Los Angeles, also drew attention to the cooperation between the two universities and said that the exhibition had opened in the USA thanks to this cooperation. Presenting Albert R. Karnig with a Turkish coffee set at the opening ceremony, Enver Yücel reminded the audience of the Turkish saying that "a single cup of coffee is remembered for forty years". Karnig said that he was the right person for this gift, as he used to make coffee for his parents after meals and is one of the few people in America who knows how to make Turkish coffee.

Stating that the exhibition is very important in many respects, R. Hakan Tekin, Consul General of Türkiye in Los Angeles, said: "The exhibition is important in reflecting to the American community in California the Ottoman Empire's view of the world from the 14th-15th centuries to the 17th century. 2009 was declared the Year of Katip Çelebi by UNESCO, and Katip Çelebi is also the main theme of this exhibition. As a 17th-century Ottoman thinker and writer, he both brought Eastern ideas to the attention of Western scientists and intellectuals, since many of the books Katip Çelebi wrote at the time were translated into Western languages, and brought works that can be considered cornerstones of the West from many intellectual perspectives, as well as the progress made by the West, to the knowledge of Ottoman society and Eastern society in general. In this respect, this exhibition is of great importance in this meaningful year for remembering him once again."

Enver Yücel, Chair of the Board of Trustees of Bahçeşehir University, said: "This exhibition is of course very important. 2009 was declared the Year of Katip Çelebi by UNESCO. That is why, as Türkiye and as a Turkish university, we wish to introduce this exhibition to the whole world. So we started the exhibition first in California. Later, we plan to hold this exhibition at 20 locations in various parts of America, such as Boston, New York, Washington and the University of Chicago. Because Katip Çelebi, a Turkish scientist who lived in the 17th century, was an important scholar who conducted research not only on maps and geography but in various fields from history to medicine and from geography to space sciences, who never broke away from knowledge and the production of knowledge even on his travels, and who collected books. Believing that there is great benefit in introducing this scholar to the world, and so that cultures can learn more about one another, we as Bahçeşehir University, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye, started and continued this service. Next year we would like to hold it in European capitals as well." Stating that the exhibition is important in many respects, Albert R. Karnig, President of California State University, San Bernardino, said that it is important on many different levels and that, thanks to the exhibition, they had the chance to present Katip Çelebi's magnificent creativity and his historic calligraphy that brings science together with art. Karnig said: "The second important point is the excellent cooperation we have developed with Bahçeşehir University. The exhibition has also been a step toward student exchange, faculty exchange, joint film projects and conferences between the two universities." He said that the most important point is that such exhibitions strengthen relations between Türkiye and America.

The exhibition is also part of the events organized by Bahçeşehir University Center for Civilization Studies (MEDAM) on the occasion of UNESCO declaring 2009 the International Year of Katip Çelebi. The events, also supported by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Türkiye, were prepared under the coordination of Prof. Dr. Bekir Karlığa and Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kaçar. These events include the "Map Exhibition: The Ottoman View of the World from Piri Reis to Katip Çelebi", the "Symposium on Katip Çelebi in the 400th Year of His Birth", the "Collected Publication of the Complete Works of Katip Çelebi", the "Katip Çelebi Festschrift" and public lectures held at various institutions to inform and raise awareness among the public.