The exhibition and conference called "Viewing the 19th Century Jordan Geography from the Photograph Collection of the Yıldız Palace" was organized by Jordan Ministry of Culture and Amman Yunus Emre Institute on March 8, 2021 at the Jordan Royal Cultural Center.

The exhibition and conference called "Viewing the 19th Century Jordan Geography from the Photograph Collection of the Yıldız Palace" was organized through the collaboration of the Jordan Ministry of Culture and Amman Yunus Emre Institute on March 8, 2021 at the Jordan Royal Cultural Center

The Yıldız Palace was positioned as a special cultural and art center throughout the reign of the Sultan Abdulhamid II. Sultan Abdulhamid considered following the world, cultures, technology and science, innovations and art as a necessity in terms of his future goals. Sultan Abdulhamid II adopted the idea that being a great state meant keeping up with the era and making progress in all elements of the civilization, and he himself produced rare works of art from wood, and was the patron of many modern and traditional arts such as painting, theatre, china, weaving and photography. The Sultan spent most of his time in the Yıldız Palace throughout his reign, and created a rich photograph collection at the Yıldız Palace through the photographs he collected from all around the world to learn the cultures and follow the developments in the world. 

THE GOLDEN AGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

The art of photography experienced its so-called golden age during the reign of the Sultan Abulhamid II. The Sultan tried to learn about every inch of his empire through the photographs, and this endeavor broadened to a sense that it encompassed the entire world. Sultan Abdulhamid specially cared for the photographers that came to the empire and had a photography room and photographers at his palace. He created a unique and priceless collection with photograph albums, which were sent to him through various places of the world and are today extremely important documents.  The Sultan managed the get news from almost the entire world through his special photograph orders, photographed special poses, gifted albums from all around the world, and photographs that are acquired through purchase.

50 PHOTOGRAPHS WERE EXHIBITED

50 photographs that have been compiled from the Viewing the 19th Century Jordan Geography from the Photograph Collection of the Yıldız Palace, printed by the Republic of Turkey Presidency on the occasion of 2020 Turkey-Jordan Culture Year, were transformed into pictures and started to be exhibited through a programme that is organized according to COVID-19 precautions. The programme only accepted 25 people because of the precautions and was watched by 1,500 people through the broadcasts at the Jordan Ministry of Culture official page and Amman Yunus Emre Institute social media accounts.

THE HISTORY OF JORDAN IN THE OTTOMAN ARCHIVES

The programme started with Amman Yunus Emre Institute Director Cengiz Eroğlu's speech titled, "Importance of the Ottoman Archives", followed by the Jordan University History Department Lecturer Dr. Eman Hayajneh's speech titled, "Importance of the Ottoman Archives for the History of Jordan", and ended with the Jordan University History Department Lecturer Dr. Mohammad Khriesat's speech titled, "Transjordan Government Body during the Ottoman Period".

The programme was chaired by the Jordan Ministry of Culture Secretary General. The Republic of Turkey Amman Embassy Undersecretary Orkun Ersoy and the Republic of Turkey Amman Embassy Consul Abdullah Subaşı also participated in the programme.

The exhibition will remain open for a week.