In conjunction with their groundbreaking “What Byzantinism Is This in Istanbul!”: Byzantium in Popular Culture exhibition, the Pera Museum and the Istanbul Research Institute have launched a podcast. Each episode features interviews with researchers and artists on how they have engaged with Byzantine history in their works. Byzantine culture has been appropriated in unlikely mediums and genres, and these new methods of engagement with Byzantine heritage in popular culture are explored in depth on the show.
In episode 1 (released 27 December 2021), 'On a Memory Called Empire', Dr Ingela Nilsson (former director of the Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul) and author (and Byzantine historian) Arkady Martine discuss Martine's novel, A Memory Called Empire (winner of the 2020 Hugo Award), and its allusions to Byzantine culture.
Future episodes will feature a dazzling array of guests, including musicians Nikos Tragakis and Sakis Tolis, author Jeff VanderMeer, artist Rohan Harris and academics Jeremy J. Swist and Roland Betancourt. Topics range from mural art in films and the uses of history in fiction and the influences of Byzantium on music.
The podcast What Byzantinism Is This in Istanbul! can found on most podcast apps by searching for it by name. You can also listen directly in Spotify by clicking here.
Issue 66, December 2023
Turkey’s Centenary Issue
