The Mosaic Road: Turkey's ancient mosaics presented at Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice
The Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice hosted the Italian launch of The Mosaic Road, a project by Turkey-ONE, an association founded in 2014 by Demet Sabanci Çetindoğan to promote Turkish cultural heritage. Directed by historian Ilber Ortaylı, the initiative collaborates with Turkey's Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the metropolitan municipalities of Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Gaziantep, and Şanlıurfa. These southeastern cities, near a sensitive border, house Hellenistic and Roman mosaics discovered in 20th-century excavations, including the Urfa Mosaic (Amazon Mosaic) with tesserae from the Euphrates River. Despite their historical significance, these mosaics remain underrecognized globally. The event featured a capsule collection by designer Ozlem Suer inspired by the mosaics and culinary specialties from Gaziantep, a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy.
Key facts
- The Mosaic Road project was presented at Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice.
- Turkey-ONE was founded in 2014 by Demet Sabanci Çetindoğan.
- The project is directed by historian Ilber Ortaylı.
- It involves the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and municipalities of Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Gaziantep, and Şanlıurfa.
- The mosaics are Hellenistic and Roman, discovered in the 20th century.
- The Urfa Mosaic features tesserae from the Euphrates River.
- Designer Ozlem Suer created a capsule collection for the event.
- Gaziantep is a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy.
Entities
Artists
- Ozlem Suer
Institutions
- Turkey-ONE
- Peggy Guggenheim Collection
- Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey
- UNESCO
Locations
- Venice
- Italy
- Turkey
- Hatay
- Kahramanmaraş
- Gaziantep
- Şanlıurfa
- Euphrates River
- Switzerland
- London
- Washington