This paper aims at examining the influence of private museums on democratization in Turkey. It can be argued that the cultural institutions like “Istanbul Modern”, “Sakip Sabanci Museum” and “Pera Museum” have an indispensable role for democratic consolidation in Turkey since the beginnings of 21st century. Therefore, these private museums have gained public interest more than pro-democratic and non-governmental organizations in Turkey. By doing so, they are configurating the public opinion within the political and cultural framework. Throughout the analysis, the interaction between private museums and democratic consciousness will be discussed within the impacts of museums’ exhibitions. So far as the private museums are concerned, their exhibitions on modern and contemporary art are interesting in order to regard the importance of such cultural institutions over Turkish democratization. Their permanent and temporary collections of art contribute to a common cultural and pro-democratic culture. Through several collections and exhibitions, different approaches and disciplines under common themes create a multidimensional social and cultural milieu for the visitors. Moreover, the democratic trends are elaborated not only from painting to sculpture, or from installation to video but also from workshops to panel discussions. In other words, both cultural and artistic pieces render private museums, the pioneer of Turkish democratization since 2000s. Private museums like “Istanbul Modern”, “Sakip Sabanci Museum” and “Pera Museum” construct a socio-political framework for public opinion. Thus the exhibition of modern and contemporary art converges with the issues of democratic policies. Pluralism, ethnic diversity, ecology, gender, millenarian movements, mass mobility, voting, civil society are the most exposed pro-democratic themes in these private museums. When all is said and done, the target of this paper is to analyze the artistic influence of private museums’ exhibitions over democratic tendencies in Turkey.
