Qatar exhibit displays Ottomans from Orientalist eyes
The Gulf state of Qatar’s capital city, Doha, is welcoming an exhibition displaying the Ottoman legacy as part of celebrations for its title of 2010 Arab Capital of Culture at the city’s spectacular Museum of Islamic Art.
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The former empire is depicted by Orientalist artists and from an Orientalist point of view, which is perceived as an “opportunity to explore and appreciate the spaces in between” by Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, chairperson of the Qatar Museums Authority.
Titled “A Journey into the World of the Ottomans,” the exhibit is dedicated to the world of the Ottomans, not to the Ottoman Empire, in an attempt to depict the state in a much more global sense, Russian Curator Olga Nefedova said during a tour in the inauguration of the exhibition.
The exhibition is themed under seven categories -- The Capital, The Portrait, The Artist, The History, The City and The Citizens, The Present -- while mostly displaying pieces depicting the Ottoman capital of İstanbul and other paintings of individuals or incidents taking place in the city. In addition to the paintings from as early as the 18th century, there are also a number of contemporary photographs as well as 21st century figurative images by British artist Vanessa Hodgkinson.
Among the highlights of the exhibition are Jean-Baptiste Vanmour masterpieces, which are also the source of inspiration for the show, on loan from Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
The exhibit is being held by the Orientalist Museum of Qatar at the Museum of Islamic Art. The exhibit’s venue is also one of the most remarkable buildings in the city with its distinctive architecture. The Museum of Islamic Art was designed by acclaimed Chinese-American architect Leoh Ming Pei, whose internationally well-known works include a glass-and-steel pyramid in the garden of the Louvre museum in Paris. Pei convinced project coordinators to build a new island to build the museum on.
The Capital: İstanbul
The theme of The Capital welcomes guests at the entrance of the museum. Three picturesque İstanbul paintings offer views from different centuries. The paintings feature the well-known İstanbul skyline with the background featuring minarets of famous architectural structures, including the Hagia Sophia Museum, Süleymaniye Mosque and other historic buildings. The pieces reflect their artists’ enchantment with the city.
Sultans as well as common people are shown in the portrait section of the exhibit by several artists, including Jean-Etienne Liotard and Jean-Baptiste Hilaire. The portraits belong to a limited time period, between the 16th-18th centuries, when there was a genuine interest among artists for individualized Oriental characters, curator Nefedova says. “I dare to add, sir, that no other painter before me has worked with such care in this style and I find myself alone in this land,” says the famous artist, Vanmour, in a letter to an anonymous address in the Ottoman Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1730. Paintings by Vanmour, who witnessed first hand the Ottomans’ lifestyle during the Tulip Era, the period of the reign of Sultan Ahmed III (r. 1703-30), are showcased in the section of the Artist. Vanmour’s portrayals of İstanbul residents are among the most famous paintings depicting Ottoman life.
The History section features depictions of the Ottoman land by artist-travelers. The images include a view of the harem by Antoine Ignace Melling -- who is defined as the “most nuanced and convincing” artist by Turkish Nobel-winning author Orhan Pamuk in his “Memories of a City” -- in the early 19th century and a mosque in Trabzon on the Black Sea coast.
The City is another section attributed to the former Ottoman capital of İstanbul. In a separate room, the old and historic city on a wall faces the contemporary İstanbul on the opposite one. The curator says they do not compare the two versions.
Golden, silver, bronze Ottomans
In an attempt to “present a seemingly succinct hierarchical panoply of the persons of the Ottoman court, but also the Ottoman Empire at large,” as the artist says, Hodgkinson depicts the Ottoman people from different social circles as portrayed in Vanmour’s 18th-century printed record featuring a collection of more than 100 engravings. She uses golden, silver and bronze colors to reveal class using geometrical grids and alchemic symbolism. Hodgkinson’s works promise innovative approaches to Orientalist art. Opened on Friday, the exhibition will run through Jan. 24 at Doha’s Islamic Museum of Art.
Today's interactive toolbox
Video Photo Audio
Send to print Send to my friend
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The former empire is depicted by Orientalist artists and from an Orientalist point of view, which is perceived as an “opportunity to explore and appreciate the spaces in between” by Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, chairperson of the Qatar Museums Authority.
Titled “A Journey into the World of the Ottomans,” the exhibit is dedicated to the world of the Ottomans, not to the Ottoman Empire, in an attempt to depict the state in a much more global sense, Russian Curator Olga Nefedova said during a tour in the inauguration of the exhibition.
The exhibition is themed under seven categories -- The Capital, The Portrait, The Artist, The History, The City and The Citizens, The Present -- while mostly displaying pieces depicting the Ottoman capital of İstanbul and other paintings of individuals or incidents taking place in the city. In addition to the paintings from as early as the 18th century, there are also a number of contemporary photographs as well as 21st century figurative images by British artist Vanessa Hodgkinson.
Among the highlights of the exhibition are Jean-Baptiste Vanmour masterpieces, which are also the source of inspiration for the show, on loan from Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
The exhibit is being held by the Orientalist Museum of Qatar at the Museum of Islamic Art. The exhibit’s venue is also one of the most remarkable buildings in the city with its distinctive architecture. The Museum of Islamic Art was designed by acclaimed Chinese-American architect Leoh Ming Pei, whose internationally well-known works include a glass-and-steel pyramid in the garden of the Louvre museum in Paris. Pei convinced project coordinators to build a new island to build the museum on.
The Capital: İstanbul
The theme of The Capital welcomes guests at the entrance of the museum. Three picturesque İstanbul paintings offer views from different centuries. The paintings feature the well-known İstanbul skyline with the background featuring minarets of famous architectural structures, including the Hagia Sophia Museum, Süleymaniye Mosque and other historic buildings. The pieces reflect their artists’ enchantment with the city.
Sultans as well as common people are shown in the portrait section of the exhibit by several artists, including Jean-Etienne Liotard and Jean-Baptiste Hilaire. The portraits belong to a limited time period, between the 16th-18th centuries, when there was a genuine interest among artists for individualized Oriental characters, curator Nefedova says. “I dare to add, sir, that no other painter before me has worked with such care in this style and I find myself alone in this land,” says the famous artist, Vanmour, in a letter to an anonymous address in the Ottoman Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1730. Paintings by Vanmour, who witnessed first hand the Ottomans’ lifestyle during the Tulip Era, the period of the reign of Sultan Ahmed III (r. 1703-30), are showcased in the section of the Artist. Vanmour’s portrayals of İstanbul residents are among the most famous paintings depicting Ottoman life.
The History section features depictions of the Ottoman land by artist-travelers. The images include a view of the harem by Antoine Ignace Melling -- who is defined as the “most nuanced and convincing” artist by Turkish Nobel-winning author Orhan Pamuk in his “Memories of a City” -- in the early 19th century and a mosque in Trabzon on the Black Sea coast.
The City is another section attributed to the former Ottoman capital of İstanbul. In a separate room, the old and historic city on a wall faces the contemporary İstanbul on the opposite one. The curator says they do not compare the two versions.
Golden, silver, bronze Ottomans
In an attempt to “present a seemingly succinct hierarchical panoply of the persons of the Ottoman court, but also the Ottoman Empire at large,” as the artist says, Hodgkinson depicts the Ottoman people from different social circles as portrayed in Vanmour’s 18th-century printed record featuring a collection of more than 100 engravings. She uses golden, silver and bronze colors to reveal class using geometrical grids and alchemic symbolism. Hodgkinson’s works promise innovative approaches to Orientalist art. Opened on Friday, the exhibition will run through Jan. 24 at Doha’s Islamic Museum of Art.
