Illustrations gathered in 30 years on display
ANKARA
Professor Necmettin Aydın Mungan, a urology specialist and faculty member at Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University Faculty of Medicine, is presenting his collection, consisting of original illustrations by Turkish illustrators, as well as caricatures, graphic designs, comic books and humor magazines, to art enthusiasts after nearly 30 years of collecting.
Mungan initially started collecting stamps as a child under his father’s guidance. Later, influenced by the stories in the books and comics he read, he began collecting original works of caricature, graphic design, comic books and humor magazines.
With the support of his wife, Professor Ayça Görkem Mungan, who also works at the same university, he gathered approximately 500 pieces, the oldest dating back to 1918, through auctions and secondhand bookstores.
As part of the Culture and Tourism Ministry’s “102 Exhibitions for the 102nd Anniversary of the Republic” project, Mungan was invited to Ankara, where he presented around 70 pieces from his collection in an exhibition titled “A Century-Long Journey with Illustration Masters — A Line Extending Through the Century” at Rahmi M. Koç Museum.
Having been a collector for nearly 30 years, Mungan told the state-run Anadolu Agency that through conversations with like-minded people, he realized that these works held a unique cultural heritage.
Explaining his decision to expand his collection over time, he said: “During my travels abroad, I saw many such museums in Belgium, France, and Italy. Unfortunately, we didn’t have anything similar in our country. I always hoped to make this happen someday. I once purchased a book with an original illustration of Corto Maltese through an online auction in Italy. I had paid for it, but they never sent it to me. I was quite surprised. When I asked why, they said, ‘We can send it, but you need to provide your collector's registration number because this is part of our cultural heritage.’ I view these works in the same way.”
Mungan highlighted that his collection includes original illustrations from 1918 to the present, created by figures who made significant contributions to Turkish illustration art. He noted that these drawings reflect Anatolia’s cultural life, richness, social structures, political landscape, economic fluctuations and historical turning points through a time tunnel.
Pointing out that his collection includes an original piece from Cem magazine, which Cemil Cem began publishing in 1910, Mungan said: “My collection features works by Cemal Nadir from the 1940s. These pieces vividly depict the texture and structure of that era. There are illustrations that portray the hardships of World War II. The collection continues with artists from the 1950s, such as Mustafa Eremektar, Firuz Aşkın and Münif Fehim. Later, it includes Galip Tekin and Nuri Kurtcebe, who pioneered fantastic and science fiction illustrations in Turkish illustration history. It also features original works exhibited abroad by masters like Turan Selçuk and Oğuz Aral. My goal is to pass this cultural heritage on to future generations and to pay tribute to the illustrators who created it for us. If this collection becomes a permanent museum and helps the public engage with it more deeply, I will be one of the happiest people in the world.”
The exhibition will remain open until April 2.
