Istanbul Technical University Art Collection Inventory: Analysis and recommendations for its development

Abstract

Over the years, several artworks have been compiled at various campuses of Istanbul Technical University (ITU) forming a modest collection. These artworks, however, have never been identified, documented, catalogued, and/or studied in an art historical manner. The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze the artworks in the ITU Art Collection Inventory for the first time and provide suggestions for its development. Initially, all campuses and faculties/facilities of ITU were visited and the artworks found in each location were recorded based on the guidelines set by the International Council of Museums (ICOM). The findings have been categorized and presented according to different campuses of ITU as well as the types of artworks, which include forty-five paintings, nineteen sculptures, four engravings, one mural, and one panel, a total of seventy works. Recommendations have been developed based on the content of the inventory in accordance with ITU’s mission, vision, and history. The relationship between science, technology, and art has been the main focus of the general suggestions, which have been made for ITU to build a strong relationship with artists and academics in the campus as well as with ITU’s Rectorate Art Gallery to innovate new forms of artworks in the contemporary art field. It should be noted that most of the artwork were tributes to prominent Turkish scientists and scholars. The relationship between art and science observed in most of the artworks is suggested to become the binding factor for the cohesiveness of the ITU Art Collection.