Curating Byzantinists other than Byzantines: Is There a Need for Exhibiting the Story of Byzantine Studies?

Few exhibitions worldwide have explored the history of Byzantine studies itself. Occasionally, small displays have accompanied the International Congresses of Byzantine Studies, such as Byzance retrouvée. Érudits et voyageurs français (XVIIe–XVIIIe siècles), which highlighted French interest in Byzantium during the 2001 Paris congress. Outside the ICBS, some institutions have integrated sections on the evolution of Byzantine studies and heritage preservation into exhibitions on Byzantine art, such as the State Hermitage Museum’s Byzantium Through the Ages (2017), which also reflected on the museum’s own role in safeguarding Byzantine artefacts. Exhibitions devoted to individual Byzantinists, like Thomas Whittemore, or to monuments such as the Chora Church in Istanbul may likewise be noted. This scarcity of exhibitions contrasts sharply with the numerous academic gatherings and publications on the evolution of Byzantine Studies. My aim is to explore the aesthetic, technical, and ideological reasons behind this gap. Archival materials and scholars’ notes lack the visual appeal of dazzling Byzantine jewelry, while the potential audience remains limited largely to Byzantinists. The history of Byzantine Studies is often subsumed under broader medieval themes, particularly in the exhibitions presenting the national narratives of the Balkan states. “From Istanbul to Byzantium: Paths to Rediscovery, 1800–1955” curated by Brigitte Pitarakis and “The Odyssey of Byzantine Studies in Turkey” curated by Koray Durak, both in Istanbul in the early 2020s, are rare examples tracing the evolution of Byzantine studies within a national context. A related show, “What Byzantinism is This in Istanbul!: Byzantium in Popular Culture”, curated by Emir Alışık in 2022–2023, explored Byzantium’s modern cultural afterlife, a theme seldom addressed in the world of exhibitions. This paper examines the cultural and ideological factors enabling such exhibitions in Turkey as well as the challenges of presenting scholarly archives and contextualizing the field within broader social and political frameworks.