The museum ship, affiliated with the Izmir Museum Ships Directorate of the Naval Forces Command in Inciraltı in the Balçova district of Izmir, will host a sea and ship-themed art gallery consisting of oil paintings for the first time starting tomorrow.
The ship, built in the Avandele Shipyard in the USA, served in the US Navy for 24 years under the name 'USS Ainsworth' and was purchased and added to the Turkish Navy in 1994 under the name TCG Ege, and served in domestic and international exercises and trainings for 11 years. An art gallery with a sea and ship-themed oil painting exhibition will open tomorrow on the TCG Ege, which is moored in Inciraltı and has been serving as a museum for 17 years.
Stating that the military museum was opened on July 1, 2007, within the scope of the Cabotage Day anniversary in order to expand the horizons of Turkish maritime, İzmir Museum Ships Director, Naval Teacher, First Lieutenant Çağrı Pala said that the basic concept of the museum is to transfer the maritime culture of the Turks to people. Explaining that they wanted to make the functioning of certain professions related to maritime, which are on the verge of extinction in the Aegean Region, more active on the museum ship, Pala said, "We have a model of an İzmir boat in our museum. We aim to establish applied art workshops on this boat. We will establish workshops and create an educational environment to revive model making. My term of duty here started on March 18. I am completing approximately 6 months. There are many ship museums in the world. The field is not only a structure shaped by museum studies and contemporary museum understanding. There is also an academic process here. There is an approach style that serves research and prioritizes sensitivity. Creating maritime awareness is one of our greatest goals.
" 'VISITERS CAN TELL STORIES FROM THE SHIP'
Pala, who stated that the first museum ship established in Izmir was the TCG Ege, expressed that they aimed to offer visitors an interactive museum in the contemporary museum understanding. Pala, who stated that visitors can experience the museum by feeling it, said that they tell the story of the ships with the art gallery concept and continued as follows: "Visitors can learn the technical information of the ship from the dogmatic panels in the area, the date it was built, which voyages it went on, who was the commander of the ship. With this, they can tell a story for themselves. We ensure that the children who come to our art gallery have maritime culture in their minds with dramatization, storytelling, storytelling and animation models. Visitors coming to our art gallery will be able to connect with the ship and the painting, and will be able to imagine the ship's lifestyle and daily operations in their own horizon world. This is the biggest basic philosophy of this place. There is already a process in the area from Emir Çakabey to Umur Gazi and the section where Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk is located.
" CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION ALL IN ONE
Pala, who stated that the sea and ship themed art gallery that they will open on August 30 will bring together both sea and art lovers, said, "On August 30, we will invite a department head from Dokuz Eylül University Atatürk Principles and Revolution History Institute and organize a conference that will address the academic aspect of the subject. On the same day, we will open our model room and art gallery. At this opening, we will host people who have put in this effort for us and who have never given up on their service and sacrifice. As of 2025, we will organize a museum symposium in Izmir that has not been held by a military museum to date."
16 WORKS WERE DONATED TO THE EXHIBITION
Painter İsmail Güven, who donated his own work to the exhibition, stated that a successful concept was prepared for museum ship visitors to get to know art and artists, and said, "I participated in the İzmir Art Fair on May 1-5, 2024. We met the ship commander and authorized friends there. They mentioned that my works were impressive and their aim to create an art gallery. That's when I started this process by donating the first work. I contacted the galleries and my painter friends and gave them information. Works started to flow to us immediately. The paintings, which were all oil paintings and works on canvas, came together in this gallery." Güven, who stated that painter Faysal Çakmaz also supported the gallery by painting a portrait of Atatürk, said, "We thought that the only work missing here was our Atatürk. The portrait of Atatürk that was donated last was also made by our master Faysal Çakmaz. There are 16 works here from 14 donors. The donors and artists of these works are written one by one on the brass plates. Our students come to visit the museum. Let them meet with art, get familiar with art. Art beautifies. I think art is a cure for every disease." (DHA)
Source: https://www.egepostasi.com/haber/Muze-gemi-ilk-kez-sanat-galerisine-ev-sahipligi-yapacak/341061