The Istanbul Research Institute’s latest exhibition at Pera Museum “What Byzantinism Is This in Istanbul!”: Byzantium in Popular Culture , curated by Emir Alışık, explores the presentations of Byzantium in popular culture, and complements the museum’s more levelheaded show: From Istanbul to Byzantium: Paths to Rediscovery, 1800–1955. With contributions by some of the most important and groundbreaking scholars working on Byzantine Studies at the moment, this exhibition is not to be missed. The title comes from the novelist Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu’s 1950s novel Panorama, in which the protagonist expresses his frustration at post-war Istanbul society.
In Cornucopia 64, Prof Ousterhout sums the show up neatly: ‘I’ll wager there is something here to offend just about everyone – but also much to amuse.’
Below, Cornucopia’s photographer-at-large, Monica Fritz, takes the plunge into a neon-lit world.
Max Bedulenko, Streets of Constantinople (2020), courtesy of the artist
Giannis Antekounmpo, The Greek Freak, 2019, egg empera on paper glued on wood, courtesy of the artist
Stelios Faotakis, Lunchbreak, 2019, mixed techniques on wooden panel, 150x125cm, courtesy of the artist
From Istanbul to Byzantium
Gaspare Fossati and the Dominican complex of Ss Peter and Paul in Galata
Issue 66, December 2023
Turkey’s Centenary Issue
