The Thematic Session illuminates the intricate relationships between the afterlives of material culture and the construction of cultural memory. As Byzantine monuments and material artifacts persisted beyond their historical context, they became sites of contested narratives and varied interpretations. Drawing on the multidisciplinary expertise of six scholars on reception studies, Byzantine art and architectural history, archaeology, Ottoman history, and cultural heritage, this discussion centers on select objects to explore how Byzantine material culture and heritage have been constructed, understood, imagined, and (mis-)presented. Providing a critical lens on modern representations of Byzantine material culture in news coverage, press releases, exhibition catalogues, and games, speakers refine our understanding of the interconnection between imagined historical objects and the actors shaping these narratives. Case studies include the reinterpretation of Byzantine sacred architecture in medieval Serbia and what post-Byzantine chronologically and conceptually means, how contested state and non-state practices of heritage preservation shaped the process of urban stratification in Istanbul, the display of Byzantine material heritage in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century museums in the Ottoman Empire, modern Greece and Turkey, the afterlife of the foundation deed of Mehmed II’s Istanbul vakf, the circumstances and motivations behind the transfer of the library of the Soumela Monastery, and the influence of the gaming medium on perceptions of Byzantium. The thematic session contributes to Byzantine Studies by juxtaposing the initial creation of historical objects with their subsequent afterlives as objects that were used to shape, distort, and appropriate contemporary narratives surrounding Byzantium. Through an exploration of select case studies, this discussion also invites the audience to reflect on the afterlife of Byzantium at the crossroads of academic expertise and personal experiences, which is, after all, an extension of the ongoing construction of cultural memory surrounding Byzantium.
The concept of afterlives of Byzantine built and material culture generally refers to its reception in communities that came under Ottoman rule following the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, during a period commonly known as “post-Byzantine,” up to today. This paper takes a different approach. The Serbian medieval state under the Nemanjić dynasty…
Historic cities are products of continuous inhabitation, where physical remains of successive periods are inscribed into the urban fabric. This process of urban stratification, marked by selective appropriation or rejection of earlier layers, has often been interrupted by modern heritage preservation, which initially privileged peeling away later additions to expose earlier layers but now recognises…
Museums have long been intertwined with politics, particularly in the nineteenth century amid the emergence of nation states and the dissolution of empires. As conceptually constructed institutions, they became instruments of propaganda, materializing the narratives of political regimes through selective practices of collecting, classification and display. Museums therefore emerged as emblematic loci that showcased imperial…
This paper offers a close analysis of the contrasts between historical realities and contemporary representations of Mehmed II’s foundation (vakf) in Istanbul. This vakf managed the buildings of Byzantine churches that remained operational after the city’s conquest by the Ottomans in 1453 CE. I begin by introducing the multiple copies and reproductions of Mehmed II’s…
This talk will provide a short overview of the ways in which the physical representation of Byzantine and medieval Caucasian cultures in modern games builds a modern cultural memory of the Byzantine and Caucasian worlds. Games are a major vector for the formation of cultural memory of premodern history in general, and Byzantium in particular….