Venice and Istanbul during Ottoman times

Istanbul’s first official activity as 2010 European Capital of Culture, the exhibition “Istanbul during the Ottoman Period: Love by Any Other Name,” opened Wednesday with a cocktail party at the Sakıp Sabancı Museum.

“This exhibition is an event that crowns our eternal and endless friendship,” Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said in his opening speech, calling the museum show the most meaningful event held as part of Italian President Giorgio Napolitano’s official visit to Turkey.

“Diplomatic relations and strategic talks are maintained by political will. But events like this reflect a 400-year-old richness” in cultural relations, Davutoğlu said. “Istanbul and Venice are sibling cities. Both express the love of water with nature and history, as this exhibition shows. There are no two other cities where water is used in city culture in such a magnificent way.”

According to Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, the exhibition has clarified the friendship between Turkey and Italy once again.

Organized in collaboration by the Venice and Sakıp Sabancı museums, with contributions from Sabancı Holding, the exhibit is the first in a series of events that will be held in 2010 under the theme “Italy in Turkey.”

“The exhibition displays more 160 significant works that have been brought from museums in Venice and Istanbul. Among them are paintings, maps, ceramics, glasses and fabrics,” Frattini said. “These cultural pieces show the dense economic and cultural relations between Turkey and Italy, especially between the Ottoman Empire and Venice, for 400 years. Italy wants Turkey to join the European Union. We place great importance on our relations with Turkey.”

‘They trusted us’

According to Güler Sabancı, the president of the Sabancı University Board of Trustees, the exhibition focuses on the historical relation between Venice and Istanbul from the 15th to the 20th century.

“What makes me happy and proud about this exhibition is that the Venice city museums trusted us and sent priceless pieces to the Sakıp Sabancı Museum,” Sabancı said. “In the same way, Turkey’s leading museums, such as Topkapı Palace and the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum, delivered valuable pieces from their collections. [The subtitle] ‘Love by Any Other Name’ expresses this exciting exhibition very well because Venice and Istanbul have learned from each other, inspired each other and helped each other throughout history. Trade was always maintained between them.”

As part of her remarks, Sabancı also thanked the sponsors of the exhibition, the officials of the Italian Culture Center and Sakıp Sabancı Museum Director Nazan Ölçer and her team.

First activity to celebrate Istanbul 2010

Since the exhibition is the first activity in the celebration of Istanbul’s status as 2010 European Capital of Culture, it is intended to familiarize visitors with the mutual influences and historical synergy between the two cities in a period extending from the 15th to the 20th century.

Along with selected works of art from the museums of Venice, objects such as manuscripts, portraits, caftans, carpets, coins and ceramics chosen from the collections of the Topkapı Palace Museum, the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art, the Pera Museum and the Yapı Kredi Vedat Nedim Tör Museum are on display in the exhibition.

Works chosen from the Turkish museums come from the same period in Istanbul as the works from Venice and represent the shared past and deep historical, social and commercial relationships between the two cities. The exhibition thus provides a panorama of their close diplomatic, military, commercial and artistic relations, along with their deeply intertwined reciprocal influence. The expression used in the exhibit’s subtitle was adopted to connote a love affair in the bilateral relations that have lasted for centuries between Istanbul and Venice.

Special events during the exhibit

Curated by Sakıp Sabancı Museum Director Ölçer, Musei Civici Veneziani Director Giandomenico Romanelli, Ca’Foscari University Professor Giampiero Bellingeri and the Museo Correr’s Dr. Camillo Tonini, the exhibit will be supplemented by special events such as neighbor-day activities, gallery talks, conferences and educational programs designed for children.

“The commercial and political relations of the Ottomans vis-à-vis the Venetian city-states date back to the 15th century,” Ölçer said in a press statement. “In 2003, when our museum was celebrating its first year, we organized an exhibition titled ‘From the Medicis to the Savoias, Ottoman Splendor in Florentine Collections.’ This exhibition was inaugurated in collaboration with the distinguished works of art collected from the Italian museums. Right now, we are hosting another exhibition in conjunction with the state visit of Napolitano to Turkey.”

“'Venice and Istanbul during the Ottoman Period: Love by Any Other Name” will be on view at the Sakıp Sabancı Museum through Feb. 28, 2010.