Very Good Turkish, Ottoman (1500-1928) Original gelatin silver photograph mounted on cardboard. Cardboard size: 30x36 cm, photo size: 17x23 cm. Descriptive text on the bottom of print in Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters). Extremely rare souvenir photograph of 44 Turkish Presidency Orchestra members of the Mobile Exhibition [or Floating Exhibition, or Touring Exhibition] in 1926, with conductor Zeki Bey, Karadeniz ship [i.e. The Black Sea ship] and its route during the exhibition on the map in Ottoman showing 18 main ports of Europe. The orchestra gave concerts in the ports of Le Havre, Marseille, Genoa, Venice, Trieste, Barcelona, Liverpool, Antwerp, London, Hamburg, Stockholm, Helsinki, Leningrad, Danzig, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Batumi, Odessa, Constanta, and Varna as part of the three-month tour. Seyyar Sergi [i.e. The Mobile Exhibition] was created in the Black Sea Ferry in 1926 as an international propaganda tool in the early Republican period. The ship containing Turkish products and artworks visited the major ports of Europe during its three-month journey and received accolades from the western countries. The Black Sea Ferry functioned not only as a merchant ship but also as a propaganda tool representing the new Turkish image during the floating exhibition. Onboard proms, elegance and refinement of staff were seen as a mirror of the Republic of Turkey by Western audiences. The Mobile Exhibition was a symbol of the strong will and determination that the Republic of Turkey, led by Mustafa Kemal Pasha, has put forward toward modernization. (Source: A Propaganda and Publicity Event of the Republic of Turkey: Mobile Exhibition and Europe Travel of 1926). Additionally, the book titled Seyyâr sergi ile seyahât intibâlari. [i.e. Description of and memories from Turkish Mobile Exhibition printed in 1928. First edition of this rare book by Arseven describing his experiences during this trip and his impressions of the places he saw. Arseven was a Turkish painter, writer, and politician. He made contributions to various fields, including photography, literary art history, theater, cinema, architecture, and urbanism. He was one of the first to introduce the scholastic disciplines of the history of art and architecture and urbanism to Turkey. He pioneered a unique "Turkish art" and pioneered the acceptance of the Turkish art concept. His 5-volume Art Encyclopedia is his most recognizable work. During World War I, he was at Kadiköy Municipality Branch Directorate and then organized exhibition arrangements for artists in Europe. Also during World War I, while in Germany he and his friends founded a company called Transorient Film. In 1917, a contemporary adaptation of Goethe's Faust was filmed in Munich in the name of "Die Tote Watch." Due to his experiences in art and exhibitions, Turkey, after the proclamation of the Republic, organized a traveling exhibition that will take three months to introduce itself to Europe along with the new Turkey export products. In addition to businessmen, many intellectuals and artists, including Celâl Esat Arseven, were assigned to the exhibition organized on the 'Black Sea' cruise. The Black Sea cruise has been on duty at sixteen important ports in twelve European countries. Those ports and cities: Batoum, Odessa, Constanza, Varna, Istanbul, Trieste, Venezia (Venice), Genova (Genoa), Marseille (Marseilles), Barcelona, Havres, Anvers (Antwerp), London, Liverpool, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Danzig, Kopenhag (Copenhagen), Stockholm, Helsingborg (Helsing), Leningrad. The ship traveled 10 thousand miles in 86 days and returned to Istanbul on 5 September 1926. Özege 17939.; TBTK 4759. Totaly nine copies in OCLC: 26232123 / 13081396 / 1030749227.
