The Hisart Living History Museum, founded in 2014 by businessman Nejat Çuhadaroğlu, continues to welcome visitors in Istanbul, with its collection constantly expanding through newly acquired works.
The museum brings together artifacts from the Eastern Roman (Byzantine), Seljuk and Ottoman periods, as well as World War I, the Turkish War of Independence and World War II, and hosts numerous documented historical and rare items.
Speaking to state-run Anadolu Agency about the museum’s establishment, Çuhadaroğlu said that rather than adopting a classical museum approach, they focused on presenting history through a combination of dioramas and lifelike mannequin representations.
He noted that the museum emerged from his long-standing interest in diorama art and his subsequent development as a collector.
Emphasizing that they are unique in the world in terms of how historical artifacts and events are displayed and conceptualized, Çuhadaroğlu said assembling the museum’s collection took a lifetime.
“I started in childhood. First drawings, then models. You can even see the drawings and cartoons I made as a child here. I was perhaps one of the first representatives of diorama art in Türkiye,” he said.
Çuhadaroğlu added that the museum houses more than 500 mannequins alongside original historical artifacts.
Noting that they have also organized numerous external exhibitions, he said they have staged 20 exhibitions across Türkiye.
“We held exhibitions at the Presidential Complex, Atatürk Cultural Center, Atlas Cinema, Haliç Congress Center and many other venues in and outside Istanbul. As part of the 2025 Türkiye Culture Route Festival, our exhibitions were also included. We opened the ‘National Struggle’ exhibition in Samsun and Trabzon, featuring Atatürk’s original uniform, the ‘Women Heroes’ exhibition in Erzurum and the ‘From Resurrection to Liberation: Çanakkale and the War of Independence’ exhibition in Gaziantep. To date, we have organized 20 exhibitions using works drawn from the museum’s collections. We provided artifacts for four exhibitions and also organized a symposium within the museum,” he said.
Hisart Living History Museum Director Ömer Çalışmışek said the museum was established with the aim of “reminding people of a forgotten history.”
Drawing attention to the fact that the museum operates on a voluntary basis, Çalışmışek said, “The museum has been operating at a financial loss since the day it opened. However, our vision here is entirely about serving our nation and our country.”
Underlining the importance of young people and children visiting the museum, Çalışmışek said it is easy to comment on and criticize events from 100 years ago without understanding the conditions of the time.
“Without seeing what deprivation really means, it is very difficult to understand it. Especially visitors who see the artifacts from the War of Independence period often ask, ‘Is this what they used?’ For them to understand that era, they need to see what people living at the time felt, what hardships they endured, what was lacking, and how shortages of materials, tools and equipment led to various innovations. As is known, during the War of Independence, we fought not only the enemy but also deprivation,” he said.
Çalışmışek noted that when designing dioramas of recent historical events, existing photographs are taken as a basis to achieve the closest possible representation of reality.
For earlier periods where photographs or visual material have not survived, he said, designs are created using historical documents and information obtained from artifacts.
Stating that children and young people show greater interest in these constructed dioramas, Çalışmışek said: “When it comes to the conquest of Istanbul, there are no photographs or visuals apart from a few oil paintings produced in later periods. Yet we can imagine the walls, the soldiers fighting or the massive cannons. Or take the diorama of the Battle of Ankara. One designs it by imagining what it would look like if Timur’s war elephants fought soldiers. Early-period dioramas attract more interest from young people. They are more memorable for them. They have seen hundreds of films or photographs from World War II, but they have never seen Timur’s elephants.”
Çalışmışek added that the museum’s artifact collection and diorama production processes continue without slowing down.
The Hisart Living History Museum is preparing to launch new projects starting in 2026, including international initiatives.
As an important step in cultural diplomacy, a traveling exhibition and tour project covering the Middle East, Turkic republics and Europe is being prepared for 2026. As part of the project, two exhibitions are planned to be held in the United States.
