In 1956 a carpet seller in The Grand Bazaar sold an album to an American diplomat.

Along with the diplomat and his family, the album embarked on a long journey. It passed the Nile River, flew to Abadan, and went to Afghanistan, India, Nepal, Burma, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Japan. It found itself in North America, and got to visit Vermont.

Later it resurfaced in Toronto. It had to do a pit stop in Iceland, but its ultimate destination was Beyoğlu.

From the album emerged the Ottoman bureaucrat, diplomat, governor general, man of society, player, and caricaturist Yusuf Franko Kusa, as well as Beyoğlu of the late 19^th century and its people drawn by an amazing talent: “The Characters of Yusuf Franko.”

The Franko Kusa family who migrated from Lebanon to Istanbul made a place for themselves in Ottoman foreign service and reached back for Lebanon once more. Deeply engaged in the Eastern Question, Ottoman paşas and diplomats from the great nations of the world showed up to conduct international negotiations during the day and attended society receptions in the evening. Local and foreign investors, tourists, artists, and an art scene experiencing the pains of self-discovery and exposure all met in Beyoglu. Yusuf Franko’s album collected all these elements, and from 1884 to 1896 they all played the game that he had staged.

Now it is our turn to join in the game, and we should not forget what had to end for the game to start, nor should we forget those who were left out.

***

Curator

Bahattin Öztuncay

Exhibition Texts
K. Mehmet Kentel

Advisors
Sinan Kuneralp, K. Mehmet Kentel

Project Coordination
Ebru Esra Satıcı

Exhibition Team
Buket Coşkuner, Şeyda Çetin, Özge Ertem

Exhibition Design
Yeşim Demir Pröhl, Demir Tasarım

Design Implementation
Didem Uraler Çelik, Demir Tasarım

Exhibition Production
Sergikur

Fine Art Prints
Mas Matbaacılık

Album Photographs
Hadiye Cangökçe

Document Photographs
Caner Aydoğan

Animations
Sinan Seven

Puppet
Sibel Altan

Translation
Umur Çelikyay

Lighting
Nergiz Arifoğlu

Interactive Album and Website
Kakare Interactive

Acknowledgements

We thank Ömer M. Koç for his generous support.

ARTER
Bibliothèque National de France (BnF)
Çelik Gülersoy Istanbul Kitaplığı
İBB Atatürk Kitaplığı
Institut Français d’Études Anatoliennes (IFEA)
İstanbul PTT Müzesi
Koç Üniversitesi Suna Kıraç Kütüphanesi
Sadberk Hanım Müzesi
SALT Araştırma
Tüpraş
Barış Düzenli
Ceren Öner
Engin Deniz Akarlı
Funda Soysal
Gizem Tongo Overfield Shaw
Gökhan Akçura
Guillaume Doizy
Habibe Çıkılıoglu
Lorans Tanatar Baruh
Melis Süloş Akyelli
Münevver Eminoğlu
Nedret İşli
Neslihan ve Deniz Yalav
Okan Kuzey
Pascal Leboutiller
Sara Yontan
Şahika Karatepe
Ufuk Mazlum
Yavuz Aykan
Zeynep Türkyılmaz

---

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____________ Başlangıcından Bugüne Dünya Karikatürü. İstanbul: İnkılap Kitabevi, 1997