E243 | Although artistic production occurs in a political context, art and politics are often studied as separate fields of historical inquiry. Our guest in this episode, Dr. Sarah-Neel Smith, offers a reflection on the close relationship between art and politics in Turkey through a discussion of her research on the figure of Bülent Ecevit. As a politician, Ecevit is remembered for his four stints as Prime Minister of Turkey and his prominent positions in the Republican People's Party (CHP) and later in the Democratic Left Party (DSP). Yet during the early years of his career, Ecevit was also extremely active in intellectual pursuits as a writer and art critic. In this episode, Dr. Smith explores the intellectual life of Bülent Ecevit and the link between debates about art and culture and the development of democratic politics in Turkey during the 1950s.

Sarah-Neel Smith is Assistant Professor in the Department of Art History, Theory, and Criticism at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Her work focuses on art of the modern Middle East, modernism in a global and comparative perspective, and histories of museums, exhibitions, and display. Her current book project, Art, Democracy, and the Culture of Dissent in 1950s Turkey, focuses on the intersection of art and politics in Turkey and the ways that local art galleries, painting practices, and art criticism were informed by international discourses about democracy after WWII.

More at http://www.ottomanhistorypodcast.com/2016/04/art-and-politics-in-1950s-turkey.html

Nicholas Danforth holds a Ph.D. from Georgetown University's Department of History. His research focuses on the history and historiography of modern Turkey. In addition to currently serving as senior political analyst at the Bipartisan Policy Center, he is creator and editor of The Afternoon Map blog.

CREDITS

Episode No. 243
Release Date: 29 April 2016
Recording Location: Washington, DC
Editing and production by Chris Gratien
Special thanks to Kara Güneş for allowing us to use the composition "Istanbul" in the intro music
Sound excerpts: Baglamamin Dugumu - Necmiye Ararat and Muzaffer; Harmandali - Recep Efendi, Cemal Efendi
Images and bibliography courtesy of Sarah-Neel Smith