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The Sultan's Signature
Ottoman Calligraphy from the Sakip Sabanci Museum
Sabanci University, Istanbul
February 03 - April 08, 2001
The Sultan's Signature: Ottoman Calligraphy from the Sakip Sabanci Museum, Sabanci University, Istanbul is the first major exhibition in Germany to celebrate the splendors of Ottoman calligraphy. The more than seventy manuscripts and calligraphies presented in this exhibition represent the work of nearly every outstanding Turkish calligrapher - from the second half of the fifteenth century through the early twentieth century. These richly illuminated manuscripts and handsome calligraphic compositions are drawn from the important collection of the Sakip Sabanci Museum, founded by the noted Turkish businessman and philanthropist.
Calligraphy is the most highly esteemed of all Islamic arts - because it is through writing that the Qur'an is preserved and transmitted. The language of the Qur'an is Arabic, which like all Semitic languages is written from right to left. Following the rise of Islam in the seventh century, Arabic writing became the common property of all Muslims, and calligraphers began to transform and beautify the Arabic script to make it worthy of the divine revelation. The same preoccupation with beautiful writing extended to other languages spoken within the Islamic commonwealth, including Turkish, Persian, and Urdu, which were rendered in the Arabic script. Calligraphy developed into a remarkable and very traditional means of artistic expression, a development made possible by the mastery of past styles transmitted to successive generations of calligraphers in an unbroken chain.
With the conquest of Constantinople (now Istanbul) in 1453, the chain of transmission extended to the administrative and cultural center of the Ottoman Empire. There, a succession of master calligraphers reshaped and revitalized their singular art. The most prominent calligraphers functioned as both artists and professional teachers who were often attached to or sponsored by the court. As artists, they gracefully copied manuscripts of the Qur'an and created magnificent large-scale, boldly rhythmic compositions that also served as models for inscriptions on the great Ottoman mosques and other public buildings. As teachers, they trained new generations of calligraphers, including the Ottoman sultans and princes. In 1928, five years after the fall of the Ottoman sultanate and the establishment of the modern, secular Turkish Republic, Arabic script was replaced by a modified version of the Latin alphabet. Although this change brought to an end the classical method of writing as a form of communication, a small group of artists managed to keep calligraphy alive as an art. Thus today, in Istanbul, a handful of calligraphers still practice and train students and the long history of transmission continues.
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The exhibition is curated by Linda Komaroff, Curator of Islamic Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Lisa Dennison, Chief Curator and Deputy Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and Hülya Karadeniz, Istanbul. The catalogue published in German, English or Turkish will be on sale at DM 59.
As Edition No. 14 of the Deutsche Guggenheim, a "divit," or portable writing set consisting of an inkwell and pen, known in Arabic as "hokka" and "kubur," has been created. It was handcrafted in the traditional fashion in Istanbul exclusively for the Sabanci exhibition. With filigree ornamentation and silverplating, the "divit" consists of only 100 individually numbered copies that are on sale exclusively at the Deutsche Guggenheim at a price of DM 350.
On Sunday 4 February 2001, at 11.30 a.m., the author of the catalogue Dr. M Ugur Derman will lead a guided tour through the exhibition, entitled "The Sultan's Seal." The series of lectures to accompany the exhibition on Islamic Art and Culture will be introduced by Professor Annemarie Schimmel, until recently Professor of Indo-Islamic Culture at Harvard University and Bonn. The recipient of the Peace Prize by the Association of German Booksellers will speak about "The World as a Book - the Role of Calligraphy in Islamic Culture," on Wednesday, 14 February 2001 at 7 p.m. The series continues on Wednesday, 28 February 2001, at 7 p.m., with "Language of the Hand and the Heart's Delight: Islamic Calligraphy," an introduction to and practical demonstration of the art of calligraphy by Dr. Shams Anwari-Alhosseyni, lecturer in Persian Language, Literature and Calligraphy at the University of Cologne. On Wednesday, 14 March 2001, at 8 p.m., Islamic expert Dr. Navid Kermani will talk about "The Power of the Word: On the Aesthetics of Religious Language in Islam." Guided tours for school parties in German or Turkish as well as special tours in German, English, Turkish or French are available on request.
The family brunch for young and old in the Deutsche Guggenheim has become an established tradition. On Sunday, 4 March 2001, at 11.30 a.m., it will round off the accompanying programme to this exhibition.
Press Preview: Friday, February 2, 2001, 11 a.m.
Images of the exhibition
are available online at www.photo-files.de/guggenheim in a 300 dpi quality.
Further information at
Manager: Svenja Gräfin von Reichenbach
Press: Sara Bernshausen
Phone: +49-30-202093-14
Fax: +49-30-202093-20
email: berlin.guggenheim@db.com
Internet: www.deutsche-guggenheim.de
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