TOA Awards 2026 Finalists - Cultural Heritage
- Written by Admin TOA
- Published in Culture & Art
The **Cultural Heritage** category recognizes individuals whose work has significantly contributed to preserving, researching, interpreting, and promoting Turkish art, history, and cultural heritage. Through scholarship, curatorial excellence, and museum leadership, these finalists have helped introduce the richness of Turkish civilization to international audiences while strengthening cross-cultural understanding.
## Ayşın Yoltar
**Art Historian & Curator, Harvard Art Museums**
Ayşın Yoltar is an accomplished art historian and curator specializing in Islamic and Ottoman art. At Harvard Art Museums, she has curated exhibitions, conducted scholarly research, and contributed to the preservation and interpretation of significant works of art from the Islamic world. Her academic expertise and curatorial leadership have helped broaden public understanding of Turkish and Islamic artistic traditions through internationally respected museum programs and educational initiatives.
**Profile:** [https://harvardartmuseums.org](https://harvardartmuseums.org)
---
## Deniz Beyazıt
**Curator, The Metropolitan Museum of Art**
Deniz Beyazıt is Curator in the Department of Islamic Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Her research focuses on Ottoman, Persian, and Islamic decorative arts, textiles, and court culture. Through major exhibitions, scholarly publications, and museum acquisitions, she has played an important role in presenting the artistic achievements of the Islamic world—including Türkiye—to one of the world's largest museum audiences.
**Profile:** [https://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-met/curatorial-departments/islamic-art](https://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-met/curatorial-departments/islamic-art)
---
## Sumru Belger Krody
**Chief Curator, The Textile Museum Collection**
Sumru Belger Krody is Chief Curator of The Textile Museum Collection at The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum. An internationally respected textile historian, she has dedicated her career to researching, preserving, and exhibiting Ottoman, Anatolian, and Central Asian textiles. Through her curatorial work, publications, and lectures, she has made lasting contributions to the study and appreciation of Turkish textile heritage.
**Profile:** [https://museum.gwu.edu](https://museum.gwu.edu)
