The ‘Cultural Diversity in Old Diyarbakır’ exhibition bringing the lost peoples of Diyarbakır together with the current inhabitants of the city through showcasing over 200 photographs from the early 20th century was held in Sümerpark Amed Art Gallery January 14-February 7, 2012. Curated by Osman Köker from Birzamanlar Publishing, the exhibition featured photographs portraying the architectural texture of the city, along with glimpses of everyday life in the early 20th century.

According to information gathered by travelers and researchers, at the beginning of the 20th century, the city of Diyarbakır was largely composed of the area within the city walls, known as Suriçi, and its population was close to 35.000, half of which was comprised of non-Muslim communities. The ‘Cultural Diversity in Old Diyarbakır’ exhibition featured a range of photographs of the daily lives of these people, including Orthodox Armenians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Catholic and Protestant Armenians, Orthodox and Catholic Greeks, and Ezidis. The photographs exhibited at the show also corroborated the annals of commerce demonstrating the conspicuous presence of non-Muslim groups in economic life. The introduction provided by Birzamanlar Publishing House for the exhibition states that according to the annal of commerce ‘Annuaire Oriental’ published in 1914, all the 12 jewelry firms, 10 out of 11 wall- and stonemasons, all 9 copper tradesmen, all 10 companies that produced silk cloth, and 29 out of 38 tradesmen in the trade of goods such as cotton, silk, cereals, and wool in Diyarbakır were Armenian. The exhibition also featured photographs of the schools that were founded by Catholics and Protestants along with those founded by Orthodox Armenians and Syriacs, newspapers published in Armenian, theater groups revealing the vivid urban life, and Armenian and Syriac brass bands.

Organized by Birzamanlar Publishing in three languages, Turkish, Kurdish, and English, the ‘Cultural Diversity in Old Diyarbakır’ exhibition was supported by the Diyarbakır Arts Center, Global Dialogue, and Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality. Following the Diyarbakır show, the exhibition was held at Tütün Deposu in Istanbul February 10 – March 10, 2012.