Events

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Invitation to an Online Lecture

The Iconography of Early Eighteenth-Century Ottoman Single Sheet Paintings

Suzanne Compagnon MA MA

(University of Vienna)

Wednesday, 15 March 2023, 19:00 (Turkish time; GMT +3)

The talk presents some results of the author’s on-going PhD project on clothed figures and representation in Ottoman book painting with a focus on the single sheets attributed to the Ottoman artists ʿAbdülcelīl Çelebī Levnī (d. 1732) and ʿAbdüllah Buhārī (active between 1726 and 1745). These images depict figures in elaborate attire, generally alone against a generic background. The artworks have mainly survived as part of late eighteenth-century Ottoman albums. Their subject matter has only received cursory attention resulting in a rather superficial understanding of the iconography. The author’s PhD thesis offers a systematic analysis of this iconography, summarised in the present talk. The figures’ attire allows us to identify various stock characters. These evoke urban elite culture and, in some cases, connections to urban literary culture can be reconstructed. The paintings in the Levnī style clearly reinvest pictorial motifs popularised by Ottoman single sheet paintings in the seventeenth century. Their centrality as an iconographic source is well illustrated by the few depictions of Ottoman officials. These draw on seventeenth-century types developed outside of court workshops rather than on those of illustrated court histories. The paintings in the Levnī style are employed as a source for those in the Buhārī style, but the latter also reveal a direct engagement with seventeenth-century single sheets. The artists also represent novel subject matters. The talk explores these processes of iconographic renewal, foregrounding the creative agency reflected by the artworks.

Suzanne Compagnon is a PhD student at the University of Vienna, currently a visiting scholar at Sabancı University and the Orient-Institut Istanbul on a Marietta Blau scholarship. She specializes in early modern arts of the book with a focus on the Ottoman Empire. Her research interests also include textile and dress history as well as aesthetics and sensory history. Previously, she received her M.A. from the University of Vienna in Art History and her undergraduate M.A. from the University of Edinburgh in Arabic and History of Art.

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American Sign Language (ASL) Interpretation will be provided.

Invitation to an Online Lecture

How to make a difference: Free 3D printed devices for earthquake victims

Zeynep Karagöz

Robotel Türkiye

Monday, 20 March 2023, 19:30 (Istanbul; GMT +3) / 17:30 (Berlin, GMT +1) / 11:30 a.m. (New York, EST)

This lecture offers an opportunity to learn more about our work at Robotel Türkiye, which I am heading, in providing free 3D-printed prostheses for children who lack access to such devices. I will focus the impact it has had on the lives of those we serve. Our primary focus has been on providing mechanical hands, arms, and fingers to children, although we have also served adults upon request. However, recent events have led us to extend our services to include shoulder mechanisms, adult models, and orthotic prosthesis devices.

On 6 February 2023, at 04:17 TRT (01:17 UTC), a M7.8 earthquake struck southern and central Turkey and northern and western Syria. In this lecture, I will focus on our efforts in the earthquake region in Turkey, where we have received numerous requests for our services. I will discuss the impact of our work in the region and the urgent need for volunteers and financial support to continue our efforts. Our organization is currently facing a significant increase in demand, and we cannot continue our vital work without additional resources.

I will discuss the challenges and successes of our work, and the ways in which interested individuals can get involved and make a difference. With your support, we can continue to serve those in need and make a positive impact on their lives.

Therefore, I would like to call for financial support from individuals, organizations, and institutions who share our vision of improving the lives of those who lack access to prosthetic devices. Donate by following this link: https://fonzip.com/robotel/online. Your contributions will go a long way in helping us provide free prostheses to those who need them the most. Together, we can make a difference and ensure that everyone has access to the medical care they deserve.

Zeynep Karagöz (Robotel Türkiye) graduated from MSÜ – Architecture and co-founded KOMA Architecture in 2001. With Robotel Türkiye, she started making 3D printed mechanical hands for children with hand deformation who do not have access to prosthetics. In 2017, Robotel became an NGO. Karagöz iş currently the head of Robot El Association and she designs collaborative multidimensional &multidisciplinary projects. She also shares her expertise as a speaker, trainer & mentor. Defining herself as a PROMAKER she is addicted to civil society & social entrepreneurship.

To attend this online lecture, please register here:

https://eu02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5wqde-hrT4qGNGgbMI21ciNylEyLdUgkpRj

Invitation to an Online Lecture – OII Lectures in Iranian History and Culture

Iranian Music in Ottoman Sources:
Questions of Authenticity, Fidelity, and Cultural Transfer

Arastoo Mihandoust

University of Tehran, School of Performing Arts and Music

Wednesday, 22 March 2023, 19:00 (Turkish time; GMT +3)
The seminar investigates the early history of the migration of musicians and repertoires between Timurid Iran and the early Ottoman Empire on the basis of song-text collections (maǧmūʿas) and teḏkires (biographical dictionaries). In the Safavid-Ottoman song-text collections from the late 17th and early 18th century onwards, a certain group of compositions attributed to the Timurid masters of the 15th and 16th centuries can be regularly identified, together with a distinct awareness for the distant and different nature of this repertoire. The presentation aims to show that some of these compositions indeed stem from vocal compositions that in older sources are attributed to various composers such as Ṣafī ad-Dīn ʿAbd al-Muʾmin, ʿAlī Sitāʾī, Khwājah, Amīr Ġaḍanfar, Şams-I Rūmī, Hajjī Dadah, Ġulām Şādī, ʿAlī ʿAwwād, Ḥaydar Tūnī, and Şāh Pīlahdūz, thus indicating that actually old songs were still sung in the Safavid and Ottoman courts long after the names of most of these composers were forgotten, when they were misattributed to ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Marāġī and al-Fārābī. This study suggests that the capture of several Iranian musicians by Sultan Murād IV contributed to the survival of these works in the Ottoman repertoire. In conclusion, it seems that some of the compositions that were sung in different cities of Iran during the late Timurid and early Safavid periods, were transferred to the Ottoman courts and underwent some changes over time.

Arastoo Mihandoust is a pianist, ud player, composer, and ethnomusicologist whose research is currently focused on the Safavid-Ottoman Musical repertoire and how the two traditions stemmed from common origins. In addition to a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Tabriz University (2013) he holds a M.A. in ethnomusicology from Tehran University (2021). His research aims to put the current Iranian traditional music practice in historical context.