An archery exhibition called “Kemankeş Turkish Archery Exhibition” was held in the city of Novi Pazar,  Sanjak region of Serbia, with the support of the Greater Municipality of Istanbul, Yunus Emre Institute and TİKA. The exhibition was prepared by the Archers Foundation and hosted by the Bosnian National Council.     

The exhibition was attended by the President of the Archers Foundation Haydar Ali Yıldız and the foundation’s founding trustee Bilal Erdoğan. After the opening of the exhibition, the Mehter Band of the Greatar Municipality of Istanbul made a performance in the city center.

The Archers Foundation organized its first Kemankeş Turkish Archery Exhibition in 2016 on the occasion of the 4^th International Conquest Cup organized under the auspices of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey. The exhibition contains original archery pieces from the Ottoman and Seljuki periods and depicts the historical evolution of the Turkish archery. The exhibition was later organized in Bosnia-Herzegovina on 23 September 2017 and in Belgrade on 23 April 2018. Novi Pazar is the forth stop of the exhibition.

The exhibition presents the Turkish archery to the visitors with visual, written and audial materials. The exhibition also includes world records in archery as well as the origins of this world’s oldest sport and former leading archers.

One of the reasons behind the fact that this exhibition was organized in Novi Pazar is to pay tribute to the former Turkish archers of Bosnian and Balkan origin whose records have not yet been broken in the Turkish archery history.  

As different from the previous ones,  this time specially designed panels were used in the exhibition. The bow section of the exhibition displays the evolution of bow making, materials used in bows, incomplete bows and various kinds of bows used during the Ottoman times such as “puta”, “menzil” an “kepaze”. The arrow section exhibits  arrow-making stands together with “piştahta, “miyane”, “hadde”, arrow trees and arrow branches, materials used in arrow making,  evolution of arrow-making and  various kinds of arrows used during the Ottoman period such as  “pişrev”, “havagezi”, “puta”, “heki”, “meşk” and İbriş.”  In another section of the exhibition, other tools which made up part of the excellent character of the Turkish archery were displayed such as  arm guards, chest guards, quivers and  bowstrings. Most of the pieces exhibited in the digital panels were provided by the Greater Municipality of Istanbul and private art collectors.  The exhibition was sponsored by many institutions whose logos were included in the invitation cards.

The exhibition, which can be seen in the premises of the Bosnian National Council between 24 april-24 May,  provides the visitors with an opportunity to meet with a level of civilization which was once the highest of its kind.

The organization of the exhibition was decided at a meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Dr. Suleyman Ugljanin, Head of the Bosnian National Council, in Novi Pazar. The exhibition was curated by Mehmet Lütfi Şen, prepared under the leadership of the President of the Archers Foundation Haydar Ali Yıldız, hosted by the Bosnian National Council and sponsored by the Greater Municipality of Istanbul, Yunus Emre Institute and TIKA. The responsibility for general coordination was undertaken by the Secretary General of the Archers Foundation Mehmet Erdoğan. Many people from Istanbul and Novi Pazar visited the exhibition.