İrem Yıldız

Biography

Irem’s professional interest in museum studies started when she received her B.A. degree from Bilkent University, Department of Archaeology and History of Art in 2006 (TR). She was an intern on the Hac-musalar Archaeological Excavation and in the Rahmi M. Koç Industrial Museum Curatorial Department (TR). She was able to work with objects, material culture, displays, narration and began to consider how objects should be represented in museums.

During her MBA project at the Istanbul Bilgi University (TR), Irem focused on how museums in Turkey can be compatible with marketing tools in today’s competitive environment. During her second MA degree in Cultural Studies, Irem focused on the use of anthropology as a political tool by the British Empire during the production of colonial discourse as well as the history, content and public presentation of ‘blackness’ in the ethnographic exhibits during the first half of the nineteenth century. After receiving her MA Degree, she was an affiliated visiting scholar at the Rutgers University in the Department of History, Newark (USA) and focused on the history of disability during the late Ottoman period.

Irem’s research interests lie in the field of historical museology, European collecting practices, Islamic material culture and Ottoman studies. Currently, she is a DPhil (Ph.D.) student in Oriental Studies. She is focusing primarily on the history of Middle East, in particular late-Ottoman Empire. Her research examines the social arenas in which Ottoman medical professionals, policy makers, educators, and the general public engaged with the topic of physical impairments, through regulations, education, and treatment during the late nineteenth century.

Her career goal is to be part of the academic and museum community in order to train future students, curate exhibitions as well as to conduct academic research to contribute to museum studies, social sciences, and humanities.

At the British Museum
During her time on the International Training Programme 2017, Irem was based in the Department of Greece and Rome and spent her partner placement at Manchester Museum and Manchester Art Gallery.

In 2017 participants were asked to develop a proposal for an Asahi Shimbun Display – a temporary exhibition in Room 3 at the British Museum – based around a ‘spotlight’ object.  Irem worked with fellow J.M. Gandhimathi (India) on her exhibition proposal project, entitled Being in Time and Space.