The Milli Re Art Gallery was founded in 1994, opening its doors for the first time in October of that year at Milli Reasürans headquarters in Teşvikiye, Nişantaşı. In 2019, the gallery celebrated its 25th year.

The Milli Re headquarters office is the realization of an award winning project chosen by competition, designed by architects Hadi and Sevinç Sandor. The building is registered by the Council of Monuments. In this project, the art gallery was exceptionally designed to serve as an area to serve art and is specifically preferred by artists in the field to house their exhibits.

Reaching a distinguished level in art, a segment in which the capital infrastructure has not yet been institutionalized, and to maintain this level seamlessly in excess of 25 years in a country like Turkey, with its own social and economic ups and downs, requires devotion. Achieving this in what could be considered an area which is extension of social responsibility, is quite a difficult and praiseworthy feat for an institution.

Over the past 26 years, the Milli Re Art Gallery performed at an impressive pace, offering more than 160 exhibits in Istanbul, complemented by other domestic and international exhibits.

Among the factors distinguishing Milli Re Art Gallery from other galleries, in addition to the quality of its exhibits, is that it has established an opportunity to create a registry of written and visual memory of art through an extensive collection of books and catalogues. This is a particularly noteworthy characteristic which is worthy of special emphasis.

Indeed, along with our institution, the artists who are the major architects of this achievement also deserve exceptional praise and recognition as the joint owners of this effort. In enduring relationships, parties craft success together as common stakeholders working towards a shared purpose. Thus, Milli Re Art Gallery is always grateful to our devoted and valued artists for their exceptional cooperation.

Since 1994, our gallery has hosted very distinguished artists both from Turkey and from many other countries. Today, a new generation of our artists who have developed over the past 25 years express that Milli Re Art Gallery is always supportive of art education and actively creates a climate for arts. They state that in Turkey, Milli Re has been fulfilling the function undertaken by museums and institutions which typically bear this responsibility in other developed countries, and that they have cultivated their artistic background by viewing exhibits at our gallery, as it serves to foster them as artists.

If we browse through the impressive list of artists of the nearly 170 exhibits hosted by our gallery thus far, we find that we have welcomed very significant Turkish artists who have built Turkey's art reservoir in the post-Republican period; as well as exhibits of international recognition not limited to the field of paint, but also including architecture, photography and documentaries.

Milli Re Art Gallery has hosted thematic and retrospective exhibits including a considerable number of works by prominent artists such as Orhan Peker, İlhan Berk, Leopold Levy, Tiraje Dikmen, Neşet Günal, Ara Güler, Avni Arbaş, Hakkı Anlı, Kuzgun Acar, Eşref Üren, Naile Akıncı, Turan Erol, Mübin Orhon, Saim Özeren, and Abidin Dino, Tosun Bayrak, Gündüz Gölönü, Kadri Özayten.

Artists held in high regard from the global art platform have also exhibited at our gallery. Among them Max Ernst, Norbert Kricke, Sigmar Polke, Günther Uecker, Erwin Bohatsch, Günter Grass, Wols, Rosemarie Trockel, Chema Madoz and Arno Fischer.

Several artists from Contemporary Turkish Art circles showcased remarkable performances at our gallery: Fatma Tülin, Balkan Naci islimyeli, Ali İsmail Türemen, Serpil-Hanefi yeter, Süleyman Saim Tekcan, Mustafa Horasan, Mehmet Güreli, Kemal Seyhan, Su Yücel, Mustafa Pancar, İsmet Değirmenci, Abdurrahman Öztoprak, Habip Aydoğdu, Rahmi Aksungur, İrfan Önürmen, Nevhiz Tanyeli, Azade Köker and Serhat Kiraz.

Throughout its 20 year journey, Milli Re Art Gallery has distinguished itself in its field by dedicating a significant part of its efforts to design, photography, architecture and thematic exhibitions. While all were significant milestones among the most important included the works of Şakir Eczacıbaşı, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Bülent Erkmen, Aykut Köksal, Ali Arif Ersen, Ömer Orhun, Gürbüz Doğan Ekşioğlu, Emre Arolat, Nevzat Sayın, Hasan Deniz, Murat Germen, Laleper Aytek, Kamil Fırat and Arif Aşçı.

Several of the architecture and thematic exhibits displayed unique characteristics:

“Cumhuriyet’in Romansı; Yurt Gezileri” (Romance of the Republic: Country Tours), “İstanbul: İnançların Buluştuğu Yer” (Istanbul: Where Beliefs Meet), “Siyah Bir Renktir” (Black is a Color), “Haymatloz; Özgürlüğe Giden Yol” (Heimatlos: Road to Freedom), “Başka Birinin Yol Haritası: Çıplak” (Road Map of Some One Else: Naked), “Atatürk İçin Düşünmek” (To Think for Atatürk), “Doğu Karadeniz’de Kırsal Mimari” (Rural Architecture in Eastern Black Sea Region), “Kuzeydoğu Anadolu’da Mimari” (Architecture in Northeastern Anatolia) , “Tasarım’da kararlı Yalınlık: Farklı Bir Ürün Kültürü’nün Oluşumu” (Decisive Simplicity in Design: Formation of a Different Product Culture), “Milas Çomakdağ”, “Ece Ajandası” (Ece Planners), “20. Yüzyılda bir Hazerfen: Sabit Karamani” (A Hazerfen in 20th Century: Sabit Karamani), “Lokman.” (Luqman) and “Art Space Germany”.

In addition to these exhibits, our gallery has contributed to broadening the horizons of art lovers through a selection of historical period exhibits from abroad. Having successfully organized all of these exhibits in such a meticulous manner, while ensuring that one exhibit never overshadowed the other, Milli Re Art Gallery continues to strive towards providing a service for the world of art in the years to come, with the same sense of responsibility and awareness, intensity and value added approach, attributable to its unique institutional character.