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Yapi Kredi Culture Arts and Publishing recently unveiled a landmark exhibition in the heart of Istanbul to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Koc Group, one of the most influential industrial conglomerates in Türkiye.
Titled "Imprints on the Century: The Koc Group and the Arts," the showcase runs until November 29, 2026, at the Yapi Kredi Culture Center in Galatasaray.
This ambitious project functions as a multi-vocal composition, harmonizing the history of a corporate titan with the cultural memory of a nation.
The roots of this story reach back to 1926, just three years after the proclamation of the Republic of Türkiye, when a young Vehbi Koc registered his business with the Ankara Chamber of Commerce.
His journey from a local merchant to the founder of a global industrial group mirrored the rapid modernization of the country itself.
Today, the exhibition illustrates that the Koc Group legacy is measured not only in economic output but in its profound impact on archaeology, museum studies, and contemporary art.
YKKM Gallery Director Didem Yazici curated the selection over two years, drawing from a vast network of archives including the Sadberk Hanim Museum, Arter, and the Rahmi M. Koc Museums.
General Manager Tulay Gungen noted during the press preview that the group's relationship with the arts spans a wide spectrum.
"In Türkiye today, when we talk about culture and arts, we see a connection to the Koc Group in a wide range from performing arts to museology, from contemporary art to publishing," Gungen told ArtDog.
The chronological narrative highlights several pivotal moments in the nation's cultural evolution:
This exhibition moves beyond corporate history by focusing on how personal passions evolved into public institutions.
The late Sadberk Koc, a dedicated collector of historical artifacts, laid the foundation for the Sadberk Hanim Museum, which opened in 1980 to preserve cultural heritage for future generations.
Similarly, Rahmi M. Koc transformed his childhood fascination with mechanical objects into the country's most significant private industrial museum.
Omer Koc, whose personal collection provides several contemporary masterpieces for this exhibition, famously described the urge to collect as a "disease for which there is neither cure nor remission."
His impulse to share these acquisitions has redefined the private sector's role in the institutionalization of art. By weaving together private archives with public-facing gallery spaces, the Koc family has effectively created a "public interest money box" for the nation's culture.
Visitors entering the main hall encounter a visual galaxy where ancient sculptures reside alongside avant-garde installations.
Curators placed a Hellenistic child’s head from the second century BCE near contemporary works by artists like Elif Uras and Vahap Avsar.
This juxtaposition emphasizes the continuity of human expression across millennia. The selection also features rare self-portraits by Hale Asaf and Fahrelnissa Zeid, alongside iconic photographs of the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, taken during the early years of the Republic.
Kazim Taskent, the founder of Yapi Kredi Bank, once remarked that large organizations have two duties: their commercial business and their responsibility to society.
Taskent chose culture and the arts as the bank's primary social mission, a vision that the Koc Group has maintained since acquiring the bank in 2005. This centennial celebration demonstrates that a corporate archive can serve as a living, breathing history of a people.
Through these archives, researchers and the public alike can witness the formation of a modern identity, showing that private interest, when managed with institutional care, can become a collective treasure for all of Türkiye.
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