Suddenly Istanbul is ablaze with historic textiles, from coats of the Silk Road to fifteenth-century mosque carpets. For the first time in the thirty years since it was set up ICOC, the three-yearly International Conference on Oriental Carpets which always draws a knowledgeable crowd, is being held in Istanbul. Its presence in April (2007) has acted as a catalyst for a flurry of exhibitions, some of them permanent, others fleeting...
Silks for the Sultans: Imperial kaftans were presented in kaleidoscopic patchworks of silk that were works of art in their own right
An unerring eye for beauty: The carpet world is full of colourful characters, but none more so than the late Mustafa Kinaci, an influential and charismatic dealer
Cushions of cut velvet: Catmalar: The finishing touches for palatial divans Also see: www.yastikbyrifatozbek.com
Pagan Power: Bold and beautiful embroideries from the Caucasus Also see: Kaitag by Robert Chenciner
Anatolia's classic masterpieces
The Directorate of Pious Foundations (Vakiflar), who found themselves the bemused heirs to 80% of historic Istanbul, gave little regard to their hoard of mosque rugs until recently. Now they have done them proud, establishing two new museums - one for carpets in the restored soup kitchen of Ayasofya; the other for kilims in Sultanahmet's imperial pavillion
Also recommended:
Colossal Carpets: Daniel Shaffer on the carpets of Istanbul's Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art. Cornucopia 39
Josephine Powell: An American Nomad Anatolian kilims and flatweaves Cornucopia 30 Recommended book: Nomads in Anatolia by Harald Boehmer with Josephine Powell and Serife Atlihan
Lesley Blanch: My Life on the Wilder Shores By Philip Mansel
She has long lived in France, but Turkey has inspired 'pangs of longing' since her first visit in 1946. The celebrated author of 'The Wilder Shores of Love' and 'The Sabres of Paradise' now almost 103 years old, talks to Philip Mansel about a life of adventure and the landscape of the heart
By Andrew and Caroline Finkel Photographs by Simon Wheeler
Once the jewel in the Ottoman crown, Edirne is now a somnolent backwater on the borders of Greece and Bulgaria. Caroline and Andrew Finkel catch glimpses of it glorious past.
Also recommended: Bursa: City of the Sultans: By Heath Lowry and John Carswell Cornucopia 38
Edirne's forgotten tiles, by John Carswell Cornucopia 19
The Glories of Genghis By Michael Franses
The Mongols swept into Istanbul this winter, in the wake of Picasso and Rodin. The ravishing culture of the Turkic steppes was the subject of the latest stunning exhibition at the Sakip Sabanci Museum. In this review, Michael Franses shows that the Mongols were men of taste as well as conquest.
Also recommended: Turks 600 - 1600 The RA show reviewed by John Carswell Cornucopia 33
Nomad's Land By Dux Schneider
The travel wrtiter Dux Schneider explored Turkey in the 1970s, in the days before tourism. In particular he roamed the remote Bolkar Mountains to write, in 1978, a classic book, Bolkar: Travels with a Donkey in the Taurus Mountains. It has now been published in English for the first time. In the following extracts Schneider describdan Yaylasies his experiences with the Yuruk nomads.
Top: A village near Karayusuklu, high in the Bilkar Mountains
Served at sixteenth-century Ottoman feasts, the biscuit known as seker gurabiye is probably the forerunner of today's classic Turkish shortbread. un kurabiyesi. It is also the mother of a whole array of delicious descendants, its sheer simplicity the key to its versatility.
Text and photographs by Berrin Torolsan
For a complete list of Berrin Torolsan's cookery stories in Cornucopia, see our cookery index. Selected recipes are also available online: menus.
A new gem every day The second in a new series of travel articles by Patricia Daunt
From Adana to Diyarbakir
Continuing her series of drives across Anatolia, Patricia Daunt explores the historic southeast. Along the way she discovers a sixteen-arched Roman bridge and a hotel that used to be a soap factory.
More remarkable travel writing in Cornucopia:
Rose Baring and Barnaby Rogerson on sailing around Kekova and Olympia Cornucopia 10
John Ashe on Beysehir, John Julius Norwich on Aphrodisias Cornucopia 11
Kate Clow on walks around Lake Egirdir Cornucopia 17
Caroline Finkel on walking in the high Taurus Cornucopia 33
Patricia Daunt on driving from Ankara to Antalya Cornucopia 36
Venise et l'Orient
The first major exhibition to explore the exchange of ideas between Venice and her Islamic neighbours opened in Paris late last year (2006) and has now moved to the Met. Glass textiles and metalwork are all included.
