East looks West: Orientalism (part 2)

Last year wonder | wander | women talked about the Western perspective in the British Museum's Orientalism exhibition. Western artists went to Istanbul, Morocco and other Near Eastern cities to capture their beauty and atmosphere, and create a special world from their visits and visions. But many Islamic diplomats and nobility were also travelling and learning in the West, and Islamic artists produced visions of their own.

Artist's depiction of French court dress,
exaggerating the cuffs, wigs and flared coats

Both sides had radically different languages, writing and cultures, so there was an immense barrier that only the most educated could cross. The dragoman was an essential part of 17th and 18th century diplomacy: an interpreter, guide, and official liaison between the Ottoman Empire and the powers of Europe. He was usually a Turkish official, although there were a few Western dragomans who translated Islamic works into European languages.

These diplomats, in their traditional robes of office, stood out in the royal entourage and caught the imagination of Western artists. Jean-Baptiste Vanmour painted a scene from Topkapi Palace showing the Janissaries, Ottoman elite warriors, assembling for their wages. The dragoman leading the foreign embassy turns to stare at the viewer, Eastern powers meeting Western as equals.

Jean-Baptiste Vanmour, Crossing the Second Courtyard (ca. 1725)

In the 19th century, the exchange between cultures was more fluid. Not only was there trade and travel flowing between West and Near East, Islamic artists were coming to study in Europe and taking home techniques to create their own ateliers.

Osman Hamdi Bey, Man in front of child's tombs (1903)

Osman Hamdi Bey - administrator, archaeologist, museum director, and painter - was the son of an Ottoman Pasha, and left his studies in law to learn painting under Orientalist masters Jean-Leon Gérôme and Gustave Boulanger. His art reflects the luminous European style, but he painted from the perspective of an insider. He often painted family members, so his subjects are not mysterious and powerful 'Orientals', but humans in small moments of grief, pleasure or concentration.

Osman Hamdi Bey, Young Woman Reading (1880)

Pascal Sébah was a Syrian-Armenian photographer born and raised in Istanbul. His work received awards at the International Exhibition in Paris.

Pascal Sébah, Hagia Irene (1888-1910)

He opened the first photography studio in Istanbul in 1857, and a second studio in Cairo in 1873, mostly serving the tourist trade. Sébah worked closely with Osman Hamdi Bey, doing costume portraits and exploring light and shade.

Pascal Sébah, Mangali Players (ca.1880)

These students of Orientalism used the Western gaze to enrich their own culture and art forms. They passed on a legacy of reflection to modern Islamic artists, especially women. Today Iranian, Lebanese and Turkish woman artists continue to challenge Western preconceptions with their strong visual commentary.

Lalla Esseydi, Harem Revisited #32 (2012-2013)

Moroccan artist Lalla Esseydi uses harem imagery and Arabic calligraphy to reveal the strong interior lives of silenced Muslim women. She critiques Western art history but also deals with the theme of female emancipation.

Raeda Saadeh, Who Will Make Me Real? (2003)

Palestinian Raeda Saadeh covered herself with newspapers detailing the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and posed as one of the idealised harem women depicted in many paintings, to challenge global assumptions about Arab women.

Inci Eviner, Harem (2009)

The exhibition closed with a huge video loop by Turkish visual artist Inci Eviner.  Eviner responded to Antoine-Ignace Melling's idealised vision of the Ottoman harem by putting herself performing various resistant, subversive actions in this structured world. In the end, the artists of the Near East became their own translators to the West, claiming the power and craft to speak for themselves.