The Terakki Foundation has always updated its culture and moved in the direction of carrying its more than 140 years of history forward into the future. It withheld its power and commitment by carrying out systematic projects and making principled decisions.
The Art Gallery has been established as a result of trust and a futurist approach that is a part of institutionalization. We believed in the idea that the works of art had to be displayed and presented to the future generations by bringing artists and audience together, and thus, we made this dream happen in 2000 by establishing our art gallery.
The Terakki Foundation approaches art from this perspective: “artistic creations have direct impact on culture; play a crucial role in perceiving and developing the relationship among human beings, nature, and community, and the universe itself; develop sense of aesthetics and bring peace and happiness; and thus, improve sense of ethics”.
On the other hand, as a reflection of the Terakki Foundation Schools’ approach, we are happy to see that our students visit an exhibition each month, learn about artists, interpret and express what they see. We believe that such an education plays a very important role in preparing students to life, hooking their interest, sparking their creativity, and helping them develop an intellectual identity.
It is very important for us that our students visit art exhibitions and interpret works of art. The mind of a child perceives a painting s/he sees, the music s/he listens to very well and this brings quality to their cultural life as they develop values regarding aesthetics and foster their intellect. Children would try to create such an environment throughout their lives. They try to comprehend by looking at works of art, love and appreciate art when they grow up, and be mingled with art. They feel proud of their school.
We believe in the idea that approaching art and artists is a community service. We are aware of the fact that living with art is at least as important and serious as producing art. We believe that enabling others come together with art is the community service of the gallery.
When we ask ourselves whether the Terakki Foundation Art Gallery has fulfilled its mission after 14 years, we come up with the following answers;
The foundation’s gallery adopted as a principle to introduce fine arts to younger generations; had a caring approach towards art and artists; never lost the confidence; and increased its recognition among the artists and the audience. The gallery has started establishing an Art Collection to be proud of with a significant number of artworks that would be granted to the future as a cultural heritage.
The idea of establishing a collection makes us excited about appreciating the artists and leaving something valuable to the future in terms of art. Since the year 2000 when we made this decision and set the principles by now, it has been our priority to choose works of artists who opened exhibitions in our gallery as we have established our collection and we will continue to do so. We have not limited ourselves to certain concepts and embraced a different approach. We have never forgotten that each work of art is a value.
We would like to have access to greater audience, come together with more artists, and provide support to art and artists. It is very important for us to broaden our art collection that will be a cultural heritage for the future generations and maintain the name of TERAKKİ also in the realm of fine arts.
The foundation’s exquisite art collection that consists of many beautiful and valuable works of art is being exhibited in the extensive halls of the school buildings, hallways, offices, and gallery, thus creating nice work environments where visitors and members of staff enjoy themselves.
It is important for us to keep the balance without ignoring the financial reality of organizing exhibitions. We are aware of the fact that young people should not stay away from the process of creating and get lost in expectations that are too high, and that artists, collectors, and galleries need to be supported. Therefore, we would like to see that the Terakki Art Gallery interacts with art lovers through the strong exhibitions that have universal values.