Dressing a Nation: Sümerbank Patterns Between the Years of 1956-2000

Sümerbank as one of the leading institutions through the development period of 1930’s Turkey remained a symbol of the Turkish Republic up until the privatization period. Sümerbank’s beginnings using national products as a statist policy, development politics through nation’s economy, and its position in Turkish textile history made this institution a cultural heritage. Sümerbank fabrics led to the development of a national textile design style and fashion by introducing its own fabrics and distinctive designs.

Selected fabrics from approximately 200 000 different fabrics produced in the İzmir Halkapınar Basma Sanayii Müessesesi (İzmir Halkapınar Printing Textile Factory) between the years of 1956-2001 were re-produced using serigraphy and digital printing techniques, and dress replicas were reproduced at İzmir University of Economics, Faculty of Fine Arts and Design, Department of Fashion and Textile Design. As a result of the project, numerous dresses and objects produced by Sümerbank were donated to the department and the archive still enlarges with the new donations.

The Sümerbank Archive enriched with new donations will be presented to Ankara audience in Çankaya Municipality Contemporary Art Center between 12 January-12 February 2018.