Istanbul Technical University's art collection inventory and suggestions for its development

Modern art education involving Western perspective techniques were first offered at Mühendishane-i Berri-i Hümayun, today known as Istanbul Technical University (ITU) in 1793. In this respect, ITU is a leading university not only in science and technology, but also in art, especially, in the establishment of modern Turkish painting. During the European Enlightenment era, collections and museums started to emerge reflecting the spirit of rational enquiry, systematic and encyclopedic approach to knowledge, within academic societies and universities. In general, the term "collection" refers to a set of material or intangible objects, which have been assembled, classified, selected, preserved and displayed by an individual or an establishment. Hence, in order to compose a real collection, the set of objects collected must form a consistent and a meaningful whole. Therefore, a group of objects gathered according to personal taste with no selection and intention to build a coherent whole is not considered to be a collection, but may be referred to as "fond". Also, the individual or the establishment may keep the collection private or display it openly. Collections may vary in their form or content; however, they share similar principles when it comes to their care and management. Thus, the term "Collection Management" is applied to the various technical, ethical, legal and practical methods by which the collections are gathered, organized and preserved. "Collection Management" concentrates on taking care of the collection while focusing on their long-term physical well-being and safety, preservation as well as their record keeping. In order for collections management to function successfully and effectively, a thoughtfully formed policy in align with the mission of the institution and it's collection, must be created and presented as a written document. In other words, a Collection Management Policy (CMP) is a set of guidelines that provide assistance regarding the various aspects of collections management. A CMP must define the purpose of the establishment, explain the scope and describe the use of the collection, outline acquisition and de-accessioning strategies as well as establishing proper record keeping and determining the access to the collection. Furthermore, CMP should be written specifically to fit the needs of the collection and the institution. Recent developments in the field of museum studies have generated a set of international standards and code of ethics to be followed for collection management including criteria for recording collection's inventory. In this study, ITU's Art Collection inventory has been documented based on International Counsil of Museums' (ICOM) minimum standards for humanities inventory recording. Also, in this thesis, ITU's Art Collection management policy draft has been prepared and suggestions for the improvement of the art collection were made in line with ICOM's recommended standards. The academic literature that has been mainly used for this study include: Running a Museum: A Practical Handbook and ICOM Code of Ethics both published by ICOM, A Code of Ethics for Curators published by American Association of Museums, International Guidelines for Museum Object Information published by Comité International pour la Documentation (CIDOC), Developing a Collections Management Policy published by American Alliance of Museums, Koleksiyon, Koleksiyonerlik ve Müzecilik by Levent Çalıkoğlu, Eczacıbaşı Sanat Ansiklopedisi published by YEM, İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi ve Mühendislik Tarihimiz published by ITU, Çağdaş Türk Sanatı by Sezer Tansuğ, articles by Ayla Ödekan for ITU Vakfı Dergisi, Müzelerde Bilgi Yönetimi, Sadberk Hanım Müzesi Örneği a master's thesis by Alev Ayaokur, Bir Finans Kuruluşu olan Akbank'ın Sanat Eserleri Koleksiyonunu Yeniden Değerlendirmesi için Koleksiyon Yönetim Politikası Önerisi a master's thesis by Ayşegül Coşkun and Sanat Yönetimi ve Küratörlük an article by Özlem Vargün. Istanbul Technical University was founded in 1773, during the Ottoman Empire's era of Westernization with the vision of becoming a leading, international university through its expertise and creativity in science, technology and art. Its mission in almost 250 years of its existence has always been to expand the borders of knowledge and its applications in science, technology and art for contributing to sustainable community. Throughout the centuries, especially after the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, this prominent institution has played a key role in educating the best and contributing to the modernization of the country. Over the years, several objects of art have been compiled at various campuses of the University. The aim of this study is to determine the present condition of the art collection of ITU and record its inventory as well as developing a catalogue. Inventory was documentated and prepared based on the latest trends and minumum standards set by ICOM. The first part of the thesis examines the history, definition, purpose and the mission of collection management. Within this part, collection management policy has been explained in detail with regards to the procedures that should be considered in the written document. Furthermore, the importance of inventory recording within collection management and planning was also addressed in this section. The second part of the study starts by recounting the actions of determining the content of ITU's Art Collection inventory and continues with the findings of the process. ITU's Art Collection inventory includes original paintings, sculptures, engravings and a mural situated at all five campuses of the university. The campuses visited during the reseach process were: Maslak/Ayazağa, Taşkışla, Gümüşsuyu, Maçka and Tuzla. All of the objects were detected at their present locations. The technical tools used during examination of the objects were magnifying glass, camera and measuring tape. Posters, maps and imitation artworks as well as technical and mechanical objects are not included in this study. The findings of the inventory, which included seventy one artworks in total, were categorized and presented according to different campuses of ITU. Most of the artworks are located at the Maslak main campus with a total of fourty four pieces. Secondly, the Faculty of Architecture located at Taşkışla campus contains nineteen works of art. The inventory was also examined according to types of artworks which presented the following findings; forty six paintings, nineteen sculptures, four engravings, one mural and one panel. Furthermore, the conditions of these artworks were noted. A major difficulty during the establishment of the inventory was the lack of proper information about the artworks and their artists. Out of the seventy one artworks, there are eight pieces with missing artists information. Moreover, there were no accession records about how and when the artworks were acquired. Extensive research was done to accomodate for the lack of information, yet, there are still major deficiencies that need to be addressed and completed over time. Another important issue regarding the art collection was about the display methods and curation. The findings showed that there was no cohesiveness in the methods of display, such as, lack of labeling and information panels, lighting and installation equipments. The third part of the thesis deals with the main results of ITU's art collection inventory and offers recommendations for improvements. A SWOT anaylsis was done to determine the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats regarding the collection and the institution. Draft collection management policy was prepared and proposed in align with the international standards of museum studies in this chapter as well as general suggestions for improvement of the art collection. These recommendations were made to fit ITU's mission, vision and history. The relationship between science, technology and art was the main focus of the general recommendations. Suggestions were made for ITU to build a strong relationship with artists and academics in campus as well as with ITU's art gallery within the Rectorate building to innovate new forms of artwork in the contemporary art field. It was noted that most of the artwork on campus were tributes to prominant Turkish scientists and scholars. In light of this tradition and the relationship between art and science observed in most of the artworks was suggested to be the binding factor for the cohesiveness of the art collection. In the conclusion of the thesis, in referance to the catalogue of ITU's art collection inventory prepared and included in the appendix, the purpose of the thesis and recommendations were reviewed. An important aspect of the recommendations was the use of academic methods during all the phases of this study. As a global prestigious university and a leading instution in Turkey for adopting and applying the latest scientific developments in education, it is only fitting for ITU to approach its art collection in an academic way. In this regard, it is advised that for the development, protection and continuity of its art collection, ITU should embrace the modern concepts of collection and collecting. Furthermore, it should consider establishing a collection management system which involves forming a commitee of prominent academics in the fields of art and management who would be forming the collection management policy with a leading curator. Finally, this study aims to be an inspiration, an example and a guideline for the numerous other collections within Istanbul Technical University.