Back	From October 15, 2003, through February 15, 2004, the Ottoman Bank Museum hosts one of its own projects; an exhibition titled: PLENTY OF FANTASY NO MONEY- Caricatures of an Economy in Debt (1874-1954). The exhibition focuses on the period starting just before the 1876 Constitution, up to 1954, when the last last installment of the Ottoman debt was settled, and views the period's major economic events through close to 200 caricatures and drawings. Caricatures historian, Turgut Çeviker, scanned the archives for the exhibition curated by caricaturists Behiç Ak and Tan Oral, Bülent Erkmen designed the display concept, and Prof. A. Suat Doğruel acted as economics consultant. Ergun Özen, president and CEO of the Garanti Bank, presented the project at a press conference, recalling that, when the Ottoman Bank Museum had first opened to the public, 10 months earlier, their wish had been to make it a gathering place for students, academics, and Istanbul intellectuals alike. "Although a very short time has gone by," he said, "our dreams are already beginning to come true. We hoped to revive the historic Galata and Pera district and I can see, from the changes in that area today that we are reaping the fruits of the seeds we have sown. This exhibition clearly exposes both the similarities and differences existing between the period depicted by the caricatures and the present day. I feel certain each of these drawings will have interesting connotations for our visitors and will provide them with a better understanding of one of the turning points in our history." "It is a miracle that some 200 drawings from another century, bearing crucial information and observations on the period they witnessed, should reach us today, with all their freshness and authenticity intact," says Tan Oral. "Even if the economic events of that time were to be forgotten, the drawings remain as a testimony. Furthermore, they are not a simple inventory of events, but represent an accurate and detailed political and social chronicle.These 'visual documents' are proof that 'economic issues' have always existed and, in fact, seem to recur at specific intervals." "Out of thousands of drawings, we tried to select those most representative of the economic events of that period," says Behiç Ak. "This both challenged and added to our knowledge of ecomic history and the history of caricature art. Some of the similarities existing between the economic circumstances depicted in the drawings and today's issues make them even more amusing. We hope visitors will enjoy them as much as we did, but they should not expect an "ordinary" caricatures exhibition since we are presenting the drawings more as 'social documents' than 'artwork'." As for Turgut Çeviker, he is convinced that caricatures are the most important visual material available for a better understanding and even for the writing of history."The thousands of drawings we scanned revealed the secret history of the dark and difficult period linking Ottoman times to the Republic," he says. "The caricatures had not left out a single event." In preparation for the exhibition, close to 50 cartoon albums and some the popular humour magazines, published between 1870 and 1954, were scanned, including: Hayal, Çıngıraklı Tatar, Tiyatro, Meddah, Çaylak, Kalem, Cem, Dalkavuk, Geveze, Karagöz, Diken, Aydede, Akbaba, Zümrüdüanka, Yeni Köroğlu, Karikatür Markopaşa, Amcabey and Dolmuş. This meant a total of 50,000 pages with roughly 1,000 caricatures, out of which 200 were selected for the exhibition. The works of the 41 artists displayed in the exhibition including, Nişan G. Berberyan, K. Ofsanadassis, Santr, Cemil Cem, Sedat Nuri İleri, Halit Naci, Mehmet Baha, D'Ostoya, L. Andreas, A. Rigopulos, Phatrakas, Sedat Simavi, Ahmet Rıfkı, Münif Fehim, Cemal Nadir Güler, Ramiz Gökçe, Ratip Tahir Burak and Turhan Selçuk, offer an entertaining chronicle of the period's economic events prompting us, as well, to see today's issues in a different light.