Highlights of London’s Spring 2017 Islamic Sales… including the lot that broke the record for an Ottoman textile at auction
By John Scott | April 20, 2017
The spring Islamic sales are being held in Bond Street and elsewhere in London this week. These graphic, almost sensuous silk velvets and brocades, rediscovered by the beau monde in the early 1900s, are tipped to break records at Sotheby’s on April 26 and are just some of the exceptional...
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Islamic Art, Orientalism, Textiles
Hacer Sayman is breathing new life into a Beyoğlu side street with her design boutique, antique shop and café
By Emma Harper | December 13, 2016
Hacer Sayman has a soft spot for neglected buildings. In a city like Istanbul, where historic structures are more likely to be demolished and replicated than conserved, her willingness to pour money into restoration projects is something of an anomaly. But it has served the community well: the beautiful old...
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Architecture, Culinary Arts, Design, Fine Art, Islamic Art, Shopping
Last chance to apply for the Ancient & Modern Prize and the Research Scholarship at the British Institute at Ankara
By Emma Harper | October 26, 2016
Researchers, take note. There’s only a week or so left to apply for two grants awarded to individuals undertaking Turkey-related research. First up is the Ancient & Modern Prize, which is sponsored by Cornucopia magazine, HALI magazine and the three major London auction houses: Bonhams, Christie’s and Sotheby’s. The aim...
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History, Islamic Art, News, Textiles
The inaugural Istanbul Carpet Conference took us on a trip from Anatolian ‘cult kilims’ to contemporary carpet design
By Emma Harper | October 9, 2016
‘Come on down!’ bellowed the exuberant MC at last week’s Istanbul Carpet Conference. It was at this moment, which came after the slick opening video and intervals of thumping music, but before any speakers had taken the stage, that I wondered whether I had mistakenly wandered onto a game show...
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Design, History, Islamic Art, Talks and Lectures, Textiles
The ‘Jewel’ exhibition at the Sadberk Hanım Museum has been extended until September 25
By Emma Harper | August 9, 2016
If I could take home one object from the ‘Jewel’ exhibition at the Sadberk Hanım Museum, well, I don’t think I could choose just one. The writer in me covets the 19th-century writing box made of wood and tortoiseshell with silver and enamel embellishments. But then there’s the 17th-century jade...
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Exhibitions, Islamic Art, Museums
A stunning example of these multi-functional mobile palaces
By Ashley Dimmig | July 4, 2016
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On September 11, 1683, Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha sat in his ostentatious tent outside the walls of Vienna – as the story goes – luxuriously sipping coffee while taking a break from besieging the city. The sight of the Grand Vizier’s unapologetic display of pure decadence apparently so enraged...
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Architecture, History, Islamic Art, Textiles
Ottoman Silks launches a line of kaftans with Glyndebourne
By Emma Harper | June 15, 2016
The wavy stem of a tulip, the fanning of a carnation, the lattice pattern created by delicate peony blossoms… the floral motifs of classical Ottoman silks are simply sumptuous. No wonder they were the first choice of Sultans, who commissioned teams of weavers trained in the art of silk hand-weaving...
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Design, Islamic Art, Shopping, Textiles
Frieze New York, ‘Court and Cosmos’ and more
By Emma Harper | May 5, 2016
As one of the world’s art meccas, New York is always teeming with exhibitions, fairs and public art installations. This month a good number of the thousands of works on display are by artists from Turkey, both present and past. So lace up your trainers, because we’re traipsing around the...
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Contemporary Art, Exhibitions, Islamic Art, News
Applications due October 31, 2016
By Emma Harper | April 2, 2016
Have an idea for a research project related to things Turkish or textiles? Now is the time to put pen to paper and apply for the Ancient & Modern Prize, an award of £1,000 given to a candidate aged under 26 or over 60. Applications are open until October 31,...
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Archaeology, Architecture, Culinary Arts, Design, History, Islamic Art, Literature, Textiles
Workshops and lectures with the artist and educator Eric Broug
By Emma Harper | January 21, 2016
As an Istanbullu, it’s easy to take the breathtaking beauty of Islamic geometric designs for granted. To start, many of the city’s architectural gems highlight Ottoman decorative arts that are more floral than geometric in design. As John Carswell wrote about the venerable Rüstem Pasha Mosque and its paradise garden...
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Architecture, Islamic Art, Talks and Lectures
By Emma Harper | September 16, 2015
For devotees of Islamic art, there is much to look forward to this autumn. Over the next few months the major auction houses in London will stage their biannual Islamic art sales, and a quick glance through the catalogues illustrates the many superb works on offer. We wanted to give...
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Fine Art, Islamic Art
The ‘Kadınlar: goddesses – harem – power’ exhibition
By Victoria Khroundina | July 16, 2015
Women’s stories take centre stage in a fascinating show currently on at the TwentseWelle in Enschede, Netherlands. This city, close to the German border, is home to thousands of Turkish migrants, so a Turkish-themed exhibition seemed a welcome idea for the museum.
Kadınlar: goddesses – harem – power takes viewers on...
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Exhibitions, History, Islamic Art, Museums, Textiles
How to show off your Grayson Perry tapestry
By THE CORNUCOPIA BLOG | June 22, 2015
Our neighbour at HALI at Olympia International Art & Antiques Fair, the carpet designer Gideon Hatch, was commissioned last year to create a carpet to go with a client’s recently acquired tapestry by Grayson Perry – the magnificent ‘Map of Truths and Beliefs’ (and if you haven’t yet seen the Grayson...
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Design, Islamic Art, Modern Art, Textiles
By THE CORNUCOPIA BLOG | June 21, 2015
The first weekend of HALI at Olympia International Art & Antiques Fair was off to a good start. Robert Chenciner (author of a memorable article in Cornucopia 28, ‘The Peoples that Time Forgot’), gave a characteristically vivid account yesterday afternoon of eagle motifs in North Caucasian – and particularly Dagestani –...
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Design, Islamic Art, Textiles
The Art Institute of Chicago’s stunning new Islamic art galleries
By Victoria Khroundina | January 14, 2015
Exciting news out of the US just as 2014 came to a close, with the Art Institute of Chicago announcing the opening of its new galleries for Islamic art, which means the museum’s sumptuous collection is on display for the first time since 2012. There will be a number of...
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Architecture, Exhibitions, History, Islamic Art, Museums, News
By Victoria Khroundina | December 12, 2014
Earlier this week, the Research Centre for Anatolian Civilisations (RCAC) has announced a fresh batch of fellowship opportunities for the 2015–16 academic year. The overall aim of these fellowships is to develop and facilitate research projects that are concerned with the art, history, architecture and archaeology of civilisations of Turkey....
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Archaeology, Architecture, History, Islamic Art, News
By THE CORNUCOPIA BLOG | October 9, 2014
Entries are now open for Ancient & Modern, a scholarship for original research sponsored by
Cornucopia and
Halı magazines, and by Bonhams, Christie’s and Sotheby’s. The ninth (2014/15) grant of £1,000 for a research project will be awarded to a candidate less than twenty-six or over sixty years of age....
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Archaeology, Architecture, Culinary Arts, History, Islamic Art, News
Philosophical musings, realistic depictions
By THE CORNUCOPIA BLOG | June 9, 2014
We are in chic Nişantaşı this week for a very diverse gallery walk. Half-solo, half-group, the exhibitions we cover are concerned with many different themes and showcase international as well as local talent. As some of the galleries prepare to close for the summer months, this is one of the...
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Contemporary Art, Exhibitions, Islamic Art
Spatial Experience in an Early Modern Empire and Beyond
By THE CORNUCOPIA BLOG | May 5, 2014
If in the Stanford area, an interesting conference will take place the weekend after next (May 16–17) at Stanford University.
Ottoman Topologies will explore spatial experience in the early Ottoman Empire. On May 16, papers and discussions relating to Imagining, Mapping and Building Space will be concentrated on. The following...
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Architecture, History, Islamic Art, News, Talks and Lectures
Applications now open
By THE CORNUCOPIA BLOG | April 23, 2014
A good thing to keep in the back of the mind is the Turkish Cultural Foundation’s (TCF) fellowship programme. There are two types: the Fellowship in Turkish Culture and Art and the Cultural Exchange Fellowship. The TCF Fellowship in Turkish Culture and Art has provided funding to young and established scholars since...
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Contemporary Art, Culinary Arts, Design, Film, Fine Art, History, Islamic Art, Literature, Museums, Music and Performing Arts, News
