2008 Woodie Awards
Professor brings students to tomb in Turkey
By: Nikole Brown
Issue date: 3/8/07 Section: LifeStyle
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Students moved to find seats in the lecture room and stopped murmuring among each other as their attention was drawn to the speaker in the front of the class and a large PowerPoint of a mausoleum.
On March 2, 2007 the Department of Art and Speaker Committee held the 13th speaker, Sarah Cormack, in their Friday Lecture Series. Every Friday since September the art department invites visiting art staff to give an hour lecture.
Cormack gave her lecture on the mausoleum of Ataturk. She said her interest was sparked when she visited the mausoleum in Ankara, Turkey as a tourist while she did archeological work. She later began her own research of the site.
In her presentation she told a brief story of the mausoleums inception. Cormack discussed the similarities in architecture of the mausoleum to Roman, German and contemporary architecture and symbols. She also talked about its leaning toward hero cult architecture and its contradictory messages.
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, for whom the mausoleum was built, was the founder of the Republic of Turkey and considered a legend and great military leader. In fact, the site of the mausoleum was traditionally a burial place for kings in the 8th century. He had much influence on changes in turkey including the ban of the fez and religious garb in public. He also opened the door for women's rights allowing them to be elected to Parliament.
After his death in 1938, an architectural contest was held by Turkey to see which design would hold the remains of their leader. Twenty-eight foreign and twenty Turkish architects submitted their design, and the winning design was that of two Turkish architects. Construction started in 1944 and was completed in 1953.
The mausoleum consisted of a processional path lined with 24 stone lions which led to a courtyard called the Peace Park which held 48,000 trees and plants donated from other countries. At the entrance were two groups of three stone statues. One side were three Turkish men representing the scholar, the farmer and the soldier. On the other side were statues of three women, their roles are more indistinct. These statues were significant because at the time representations of the human form were banned. On the parapet along the stairwell there are representations of Turkey's battle for independence, but both focus on Ataturk's involvement. On the front façade of the building are extracts of Ataturk's speeches.
On March 2, 2007 the Department of Art and Speaker Committee held the 13th speaker, Sarah Cormack, in their Friday Lecture Series. Every Friday since September the art department invites visiting art staff to give an hour lecture.
Cormack gave her lecture on the mausoleum of Ataturk. She said her interest was sparked when she visited the mausoleum in Ankara, Turkey as a tourist while she did archeological work. She later began her own research of the site.
In her presentation she told a brief story of the mausoleums inception. Cormack discussed the similarities in architecture of the mausoleum to Roman, German and contemporary architecture and symbols. She also talked about its leaning toward hero cult architecture and its contradictory messages.
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, for whom the mausoleum was built, was the founder of the Republic of Turkey and considered a legend and great military leader. In fact, the site of the mausoleum was traditionally a burial place for kings in the 8th century. He had much influence on changes in turkey including the ban of the fez and religious garb in public. He also opened the door for women's rights allowing them to be elected to Parliament.
After his death in 1938, an architectural contest was held by Turkey to see which design would hold the remains of their leader. Twenty-eight foreign and twenty Turkish architects submitted their design, and the winning design was that of two Turkish architects. Construction started in 1944 and was completed in 1953.
The mausoleum consisted of a processional path lined with 24 stone lions which led to a courtyard called the Peace Park which held 48,000 trees and plants donated from other countries. At the entrance were two groups of three stone statues. One side were three Turkish men representing the scholar, the farmer and the soldier. On the other side were statues of three women, their roles are more indistinct. These statues were significant because at the time representations of the human form were banned. On the parapet along the stairwell there are representations of Turkey's battle for independence, but both focus on Ataturk's involvement. On the front façade of the building are extracts of Ataturk's speeches.
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