IMAGE DETAILS

‘Bringing back the Colours’, an exhibition of Josephine Powell’s kilims at the Silahane (Armoury) of the Yildiz Saray, Istanbul

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20 April 2007

ICOC XI and associated attractions in Istanbul opened for many participants on Wednesday 19 April, the day before the official opening of the conference at the Swissotel the Bosphorus with a trio of exhibition openings and receptions.

First the special ICOC coaches dropped the hoards of conference participants at the Rezan Has Museum for the ‘Timeless Simplicity’ exhibition of Dr Gonul Paksoy’s and her brother’s carpet collection – and downstairs in the atmospheric cellar space, a large display of her clothing and jewellery designs. The carpet collection included several interesting pieces: a charming village adaptation of a 16th century medallion Ushak which used the medallion to form a mihrab; an unusual central Anatolian kilim with fine drawing, a creative composition of colours and some additional jajim motifs; a central Anatolian kilim with wonderful colours, bold design, unusual border solution and splendid elems in vibrant colours (what may look busy in the image but actually looked very distinguished in the flesh); and a rare Eastern Anatolian flatweave with multiple design variations arranged in stripes in the field, richly woven with additional silk and metal threads, comparable to the piece on sale at Christie’s in London on Monday this week. Downstairs, the well-displayed, elegant clothes showed inspiration drawn from Ottoman robes. Outfits were a rich blend of velvets, intricate brocades and raw silk, all with natural dyes (Dr Paksoy is a research chemist with a PhD in natural dyes).

Next underway was ‘Bringing back the Colours’, an exhibition of Anatolian kilims, grain bags, items of material culture and ethnographic photographs, arranged and sponsored by the Koc Foundation, from the collection of the late Josephine Powell at the Silahane (Armoury) of the Yildiz Saray (a late and extremely advantageous venue change), sensitively curated by Don Edwards and a team of devoted volunteers. The kilims and cuvallari represent the true heart of Anatolian nomadic culture and are, as the title suggests, all about colour. This wonderful exhibition, which runs until 2 May, is a fitting tribute to Josephine, and certainly brought a tear to the eye and a warm glow to the hearts of her many devoted friends and admirers. Perhaps it heralds a reawakening of appreciation for the Turkish kilim weavers’ art.

At much the same time, up the Bosphorus at the Sakip Sabanci Museum in Emirgan, we were treated to another curatorial and artistic tour de force with two exhibitions curated in inimitable grand style by Michael Franses and museum director Nazan Olcer, who has brought the museum’s substantial resources to the presentation of ‘In Praise of God’, an extraordinary loan exhibit of west Anatolian ‘Transylvanian’ rugs from the Saxon churches of Transylvania, as well as other pieces from museums in Budapest and Berlin to provide a historical context for Turkish carpet weaving in the 16th and 17th centuries. The goal is brilliantly realised, with the recreation of a Transylvanian church interior in one gallery. Open until August, being outside the ‘official’ programme, the exhibition has a life that goes far beyond the limited period of ICOC.

Accompanying it at the Sabanci is a swiftly and masterfully arranged display in Turkey for the first time of 47 Kaitag embroideries from The Robert Chenciner Collection, which although familiar to many from their previous exhibition and publication, are here seen to their best advantage.