The first book of the publishing house established within the corporate body of Bodrum Maritime Museum meets the readers. Saner Gülsöken's book, Bodrum's Gays, will be introduced with a launch meeting and exhibition to be held at the Ottoman Shipyard District Governorship Art Gallery on October 15, 2020. Since the author is also a photographer, a selection of the photographs he took for Bodrum's Gayıkları will be exhibited at the meeting, and the author will sign his book for the first owners. Bodrum's Gays will be available at select bookstores, e-commerce sites and the museum store, and the photography exhibition will be open until October 25.
The Gays of Bodrum brings together for the first time the development of boatbuilding in Bodrum, local wooden boats, traditional production techniques, boat types that evolved with functions such as sponge fishing, fishing, transportation, shipyards, sport yachting and many other aspects of the subject related to cultural heritage. Selen Cambazoğlu, Director of the Bodrum Maritime Museum, said the following about the institution's publishing activities and its first product: “Preserving cultural heritage through scientific research, archival studies and compilations that illuminate local maritime culture and history was an issue that needed to be added to the museum's core functions. Bodrum Maritime Museum, which acts with the mission of people-oriented, contemporary museology by prioritizing education and communication activities, is taking a new step in the same direction with the publishing house initiative. The strategy we created to overcome the lack of qualified publications focused on maritime, an important element of local culture, has borne its first fruit. Serdar Benli, one of Turkey's leading graphic designers, who also worked on the logo and corporate identity of our museum, is the design consultant for our publications. With this initiative, we will continue to add publications on Bodrum's local maritime culture and history to the publishing world. We are working on brand new works, academic research and children's books on topics such as Ottoman seafaring, Aegean sailing crests and development, Blue Voyage, traditional maritime practices. The Gays of Bodrum is a book that will attract the attention of many people with its content and visuals. We have also included an English summary for non-Turkish readers on the subject. Its meeting with the readers will be on a very special day for us. October 15, 2020 is the ninth anniversary of Bodrum Maritime Museum.”
Bodrum's Gays includes photographs, documents and drawings from the family archives of many Bodrum residents, in addition to those taken by the author. The book, edited by İzzeddin Çalışlar, who has published over two hundred books in different fields, was designed by Gökçen Ergüven, who works for leading publishing houses and institutions. With Güher Gürmen's translation and Timuçin Binder's proofreading, the book has become a bilingual publication. Speaking about his book, Saner Gülsöken said: “Writing is not a field that yields immediate results like taking photographs. My last book, Ayırın Camels, which is also a research on local culture, was published ten years ago. So I've been working on Bodrum's gay people for the last ten years. I've tried to create a content that will satisfy the growing number of boat enthusiasts and not to leave out anyone who has added value to Bodrum through boatbuilding. The depth and diversity of this important element of local culture is astonishing. Its future depends on sustained interest.”
English