Exposition

Orientalism Revisited: Istanbul and its cemeteries (last edited: 2015)

Carla Swerts
open exposition

About this exposition

This article is part of my research ‘Orientalism Revisited’ in which I question the representation of the East in the West, and explore the value of Orientalism as a genre for contemporary artists. The contemporary western art world is reluctant to consider the Orient as an artistic subject. Trying to dissociate Orientalism and its connotation with western imperialism remains a difficult and delicate matter. Moreover, the current political instability and the distrust of Islamic culture only complicate the situation. In addition to these ideological reasons, formal elements are responsible for the decline of interest in Orientalist art as well. The iconography of the nineteenth-century Orientalist painters is characterised by exotic fantasies expressed in exuberant colours, resulting in stereotypical images. The power of the Orient as an artistic subject does not reside in creating a twenty-first-century sequel to this imagery, but in representing the Orient through sensory impressions based on the perceptions of the artist. While travelling in the Middle East, I reconsider the Orient as a source of artistic inspiration. At the moment I am residing in Istanbul, the bridge between East and West, a city balancing between two different worlds. In this project I explore the cemeteries of Istanbul. Walking through the cemeteries is in a certain way walking through art history. Cemeteries offer a subtler version of the exotic East, and are the only places that still breathe the Orient of the past. You recognise elements and scenes of Orientalist paintings, which makes you perceive your surroundings in a different light. The cemeteries make you look at the paintings in another way as well and give insight in the way the Orientalist artists look at these environs. This is one reason why I like strolling through Ottoman cemeteries in Istanbul, but my walks are of a more direct use for my own artistic practice as well. At a certain point you have to let go of the route the orientalists laid out for you, and look at your surroundings without their loaded contexts; empty-minded. When you forget about the orientalist frame, the opposition between East and West, the threatening urban development projects, religion, death,… you may see things that strike you as an artist: the pointy shape of the gravestones echoed in the minarets, in the cypresses and in the skyscraper in the distance; the lemon squeezer-shaped domes and beautifully sculptured headstones of the graves changing colour in harmony with the hour of day; the white marble on the ground and salmon pink walls fertilizing the green colour of some exotic-shaped greenery; … The Oriental cemeteries have a great deal to offer the artists that draw inspiration from their surroundings. These impressions should be formulated before they vaporise, in words, drawings, photographs,… as a means to extend the artist's visual archive. Istanbul's graveyards – where the tombs are a reminder of the transience of life – are places that at the same time help me pause this transience; by recording sensations artistically. Dwelling in cemeteries makes me a more eloquent artist, help me call a halt to volatility. I present the cemeteries through my own written impressions, travel literature, old photographs, orientalist artworks, and my own images. I use my archive to make associations; thematic, verbal and visual. This associative method is part of my artistic research in which I want to present my impressions of the Orient as a freely expanding musical composition.
typeresearch exposition
keywordsorientalism, visual rhyme, travel literature, drawing
date28/06/2015
last modified30/06/2015
statusin progress
share statuspublic
affiliationHasselt University, Media Arts and Design Faculty Hasselt
licenseAll rights reserved
urlhttps://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/176113/176120


Simple Media

id name copyright license
182916 Victor Pierre Huguet #orientalism#19th century#painting#watermelon#arab horse#market#bazaar public domain All rights reserved
182913 eyup from the Golden Horn public domain All rights reserved
182912 Wheat Field with Sun and Cloud, May 1889 (Saint-Rémy), by Vincent van Gogh public domain All rights reserved
182911 Joseph Mallord William Turner, Vignette Study of a Ship in a Storm, c. 1826-36. Watercolour on paper, 18 x 22.7 cm. Tate Britain, London. public domain All rights reserved
182909 Eyup public domain All rights reserved
182908 050020B1V1 public domain All rights reserved
182906 Rembrandt - Cottage with wooden fence amid trees public domain All rights reserved
182905 Galileo Galilei, Drawings of the Moon, November-December 1609. public domain All rights reserved
182904 Willem van Aelst - Still-Life with Mouse and Candle public domain All rights reserved
182903 pieter claeszvanitas still lfe 1628 public domain All rights reserved
178892 naarrops Carla Swerts All rights reserved
177844 Amedeo Amedeo Preziosi All rights reserved
177681 street stone Carla Swerts All rights reserved
177679 flandin eyup Eugene Flandin All rights reserved
176952 meloen Carla Swerts All rights reserved
176949 Victor Pierre Huguet #orientalism#19th century#painting#watermelon#arab horse#market#bazaar Victor Piere Huguet All rights reserved
176946 Galileo Galilei, Drawings of the Moon, November-December 1609. Galileo Galilei All rights reserved
176944 Mardin2 Carla Swerts All rights reserved
176942 Mardin Carla Swerts All rights reserved
176940 Sultanahmet Carla Swerts All rights reserved
176933 Rembrandt - Cottage with wooden fence amid trees Rembrandt All rights reserved
176931 050020B1V1 Abdullah frères All rights reserved
176929 curtains Carla Swerts All rights reserved
176927 gravestone Carla Swerts All rights reserved
176923 Joseph Mallord William Turner, Vignette Study of a Ship in a Storm, c. 1826-36. Watercolour on paper, 18 x 22.7 cm. Tate Britain, London. William Turner All rights reserved
176919 vliegen Carla Swerts All rights reserved
176916 vliegen Carla Swerts All rights reserved
176913 eyup Carla Swerts All rights reserved
176911 eyup ? All rights reserved
176907 Willem van Aelst - Still-Life with Mouse and Candle Willem van Aelst All rights reserved
176904 pieter claeszvanitas still lfe 1628 Pieter Claesz All rights reserved
176902 dode kameel Carla Swerts All rights reserved
176901 candles Carla Swerts All rights reserved
176895 Kurdistan Carla Swerts All rights reserved
176889 Edirnekapı Mezarlığı 1934 ? All rights reserved
176887 karacaahmet cemetery ? All rights reserved
176885 Carla&Amedeo Carla Swerts All rights reserved
176884 hartslag Carla Swerts All rights reserved
176881 Amedeo_Preziosi_-_View_of_Constantinople_from_Eyüp Amedeo Preziosi All rights reserved
176879 palmen Carla Swerts All rights reserved
176877 Urfa Carla Swerts All rights reserved
176875 palmier Carla Swerts All rights reserved
176866 Wheat Field with Sun and Cloud Vincent Van Gogh All rights reserved
176864 minaret Carla Swerts All rights reserved
176861 Istanbul Han Carla Swerts All rights reserved
176731 palmblad Carla Swerts All rights reserved
176640 balat Carla Swerts All rights reserved
176525 saltprint Carla Swerts All rights reserved
176218 dode kameel Carla Swerts All rights reserved
176125 skelettenZW Carla Swerts All rights reserved

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