The respective curators and symposiarchs of four major innovative exhibitions, and two conferences held in Istanbul in 2021 and 2023 share their acquired experience in a reevaluation of their approaches to these events and the subsequent results. In doing so, they address the relationship of international scholarship and major exhibitions in Europe and the United States vis-à-vis Turkish contributions to that scholarship through archaeological discoveries and local exhibitions in Istanbul. The focus is not on the objects themselves, but on the interest in exhibitions on Byzantium as a distinct civilization, on the evolution of museological approaches, and on the impact of museum initiatives on Byzantine studies as well as popular culture. The challenges of the political, economic, and cultural milieu of Istanbul on innovative approaches in Byzantine studies will also be put in perspective. The transition from the Ottoman Imperial Museum to the Museum of the Republic, the evolution of digital technologies, and a renewed interest in past civilizations in modern and contemporary art have all contributed to reshaping scholarly imaginations with regard to Byzantine civilization and the perception and reception of Byzantium in Turkey. The urban development of Constantinople/Istanbul and its place in global politics played an essential role in this process. The timeline for the proposed discussion is from the 1850s to today. An interdisciplinary approach will take into consideration historiographic analysis (focusing on documentary archives, unpublished letters, and oral history), the evolution of technology (in particular, the digital arts, photography), and artistic media (such as street art and the alternate worlds of video games, movies, heavy metal music, and literature). Each contribution will add perspective to the definition of “Byzantinism” in the scholarly world and popular culture in Turkey and elsewhere.
What was originally conceived as a physical exhibition for the 2021 Byzantine congress in Istanbul, “The Nordic Tale of Byzantine Coins,” became a digital exhibition and online learning resource in collaboration between Koç University and the Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul: “Nordic Tales, Byzantine Paths,” financially supported by the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation, Yapi…
That imagination plays an indispensable role in the growth of knowledge is a widely accepted observation. This paper contextualizes this dynamic with regard to representing Byzantium through displays from the nineteenth century to the 1930s and from the 1990s to the present. The approach adopts the concept of display as arrangements or staging leading to…
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…
Compared to the 1990s, the last twenty-five years have seen a significant transformation in the public display of Byzantium in Istanbul, which is visible across new excavation sites, monuments, and exhibitions. This transformation appears to have a number of parameters, and its central axis is the public reception. The emergence of Istanbul as a “spectacle”…