Sabancı University Sakıp Sabancı Museum (SSM), under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science of Mongolia, is hosting the exhibition “Genghis Khan and his Heirs: The Great Mongol Empire”, on the 800th anniversary of the founding of The Great Mongol Empire. Sponsored by Garanti Bank, the exhibition opens today (on Thursday December 7th, 2006) and testifies to the trans-cultural and trans-continental synthesis the empire formed with the sedentary civilizations and the nomadic tribes.

The exhibition, with nearly 600 exhibits, illustrates the story of this visionary world empire with artworks from the most important museums in Mongolia as well as from famed collections in Eastern Asia and Europe, including the latest archaeological discoveries. Artworks, some of which are on public view for the first time, include treasures, magnificent weapons and armour, manuscripts illustrated with miniatures, ancient maps, textiles, porcelains, and rare sacral objects reflecting the colourful world of Mongol Buddhism. Another important aspect of this exhibition is that it is supported by manuscripts, important imperial documents and other artefacts loaned from Turkish museums, national achieves and libraries.

A programme of conferences, workshops, children's activities and gallery discussions accompany the exhibition which starts today with the international symposium: “Genghis Khan And His Sons: The Reflections On The Turkic World”, organised with the cooperation of SSM and Istanbul University Turkic Research Centre. 46 lecturers from Turkey, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Tatarstan, Mongolia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Poland are attending the symposium.

The exhibition, which will stay open until April 8th 2007, has been organised with the cooperation of the Kunst und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland in Bonn, the Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde in Munich, the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the State of Lower Austria Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Art and Sabancı University's Sakıp Sabancı Museum.