Our Mission: What does IMOGA do? What can you expect to find at IMOGA?
IMOGA’s founding value has been to provide information and education to raise awareness and facilitate understanding of original printmaking in Turkey. This foundational value was shared by the other art studios established by Süleyman Saim Tekcan, which served as the prelude to IMOGA. Original printmaking was first introduced in Turkey at Mimar Sinan University before Süleyman Saim Tekcan established his studios; however, it had not yet made an impact in the field. Many artists at the time did not prefer utilizing original printmaking as a technique in their artwork since it had not been developed to be used in a complementary way for artistic expression.
Süleyman Saim Tekcan introduced and further developed the technique and acquired the interest of other artists through the studios he established, ensuring that original printmaking could be a means for artists to generate unique artwork that resonated with their artistic vision.
The primary purpose of IMOGA, an institution that emerged from the life and experience of Süleyman Saim Tekcan, is to broaden the horizon for artists to produce with original printmaking techniques and to ensure their convergence upon this technique. IMOGA also aims to ensure that the works produced with original printing techniques reach the art audience.
IMOGA started to serve in the building where it is located in 2004, in order to preserve, document, create and exhibit a very large collection, as well as to continue its tradition of studio production.
Thus, IMOGA documented and formalized the prints produced by leading artists of the Turkish art world between 1970 and 2004, and created a memory of this period.
In the Çamlıca Art House founded by Süleyman Saim Tekcan, the works produced from 1970 until 2004, when IMOGA was opened, were kept, documented and archived enabling a memory to be created in the name of Turkish printmaking.