Boundaries of Cultural Diplomacy: The International Representation of Turkish Culture and Art

The study that I introduce below was represented under the title of identity and cultural studies focused on the dynamics of restructured cultural policy after 1980s. For promoting Turkish culture and art in international exhibitions, Turkish Ministry of Cultural Affairs and Tourism organized international activities such as Turkish years or seasons, and festivals. This study clarifies how and which ways Turkish culture and art are represented in the last thirty years. In addition to, analyzing promotional activities of Turkish art and culture in international scale exhibitions lead to negative consequences in terms of false description and oriental identity constructions. This paper aims to give basic socio-political reason behind the national representation in international art and culture exhibition. From looking at global perspective, these exhibitions are chance to show richness and value of Turkish culture. However, in the process of integration of EU (European Union), strategies that were utilized in international exhibition aimed at promoting cultural codes and images. In order to deconstruct prototypical image of Turkey, the exhibitions provided a site of nation seeing in a global art scene in a common ground. The basic question is that how national representation is changed in the last thirty years in Turkish cultural policy in terms of self representation and identity construction.