Levent Boz

Biography

Levent works as a Specialist in the unit responsible for organising national and international exhibitions for the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. His responsibilities include coordinating temporary exhibitions that international museums wish to organise; by borrowing artefacts from Turkish museums, providing support in the selection of objects and the development of exhibition concepts, and overseeing intergovernmental bureaucratic and diplomatic procedures to ensure the smooth resolution of any issues that may arise. In addition to these duties, he carries out curatorial research for the creation of new exhibitions within Türkiye.

Levent joined the ITP in 2011 as an Archaeologist for the Turkish General Directorate for Cultural Heritage and Museums, while working on his Master’s on Ottoman Turkish Rugs in Transylvanian Protestant churches. In 2015, Levent completed his Master’s degree in Art History and received an honorary award from the Romanian Ambassador for his contributions to the cultural relations between Türkiye and Romania. In 2023, he was awarded his PhD with a dissertation titled Ottoman and Safavid Carpets in 16th and 17th Centuries Europe: Interaction and Competition.

Additionally, Levent is involved in digital cultural heritage projects which focus on preserving and documenting cultural assets, drawing on his strong IT background. He was part of the team that implemented the Museum National Inventory System (MUES) and the Immovable Cultural Assets National Inventory System (TUES). 

Levent has produced multiple publications, including:

• (2013) Suggestion of RFID technology for tracking museum objects in Türkiye, co-authored by Levent Boz, Nurdan Atalan Cayirezmez, and Hakan Melih Aygün, 2013 Digital Heritage International Congress (Digital Heritage).

• (2014) Romanya’nın Transilvanya Bölgesi Protestan Kiliselerine Halı Bağışlama Geleneği, Levent Boz, Vakıflar Dergisi, December 2014.

• (2015) A Short Story of a Master’s Thesis in Art History (Die Entstehungsgeschichte einer Masterarbeit im Fach Kunstgeschichte), Levent Boz, Carpet Collector Magazine Issue 4, 2015.
• (2016) The Departure of the Prodigal Child from Venice by James Tissot (Die Abfahrt des verlorenen Kindes von Venedig von James Tissot), Levent Boz, Carpet Collector Magazine Issue 1, 2016.
• (2017) Anatolian Carpets in the Historical Photos of Transylvanian Protestant Churches, Levent Boz, Bruckenthal. Acta Musei 12(2): 419-429, 2017.
• (Conference Paper 2017) SETTING NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR THE NATIONAL MUSEUM INVENTORY SYSTEM OF TURKEY (MUES), Hakan Melih Aygün, Nurdan Atalan Cayirezmez, Levent Boz, ICOM CIDOC Annual Conference ‘Documentation – Past, Present, Future…’ 2017.
• (Conference Paper 2019) Transylvanian Rugs and the Relation with Architecture, Levent Boz and Stefano Ionescu, 16th International Congress of Turkish Art, October 2019.
• (2020) White Ground ‘Bird’ Carpets of Selendi and Their Reflections in European Art and Lifestyle, Levent Boz, Studia et Documenta Turcologica III–IV, December 2020.

At the British Museum
During his time on the International Training Programme in 2011, Levent was based in the Greece and Rome Department and his partner placement was spent at Manchester Art Gallery and Manchester Museum.

In 2011 participants were asked to develop a proposal for a small temporary exhibition using an object from the British Museum’s collections. Levent’s exhibition project proposal, working with his colleague Francisco Silva Noelli (Brazil) was entitled Same purpose, different approaches – social uses of tea in England, Türkiye and Brazil.

Levent’s place on the ITP 2011 was generously supported in the memory of Dr Patricia L Baker.

Legacy Projects
In November 2015 Levent attended the ITP Mumbai Workshop Creating Museums of World Stories. The workshop was held at CSMVS and was attended by many ITP fellows from different years and countries, UK partners and British Museum Colleagues.

In 2016 Levent attended the Leicester University Museum Studies Conference with the ITP team and fellows from China, Egypt and Uganda. The group gave a workshop at the conference on Shared Histories and Global Voices.

ITP Newsletter Publications
ITP Newsletter Issue 1 (2013), Bulletin Board
ITP Newsletter Issue 2 (2015), Bulletin Board
ITP Newsletter Issue 2 (2015), Collections in focus: Hüseyindede relief vase from Çorum Museum, Turkey, 16th century BC
ITP Newsletter Issue 10 (2023) Bulletin Board