Ottoman kaftans on display at Topkapı

A new exhibition opened Friday in Istanbul’s Topkapı Palace titled “Venice and Istanbul: A Glorious Woven Relationship. Eight Hundred Years of Interplay in Textiles.”

The exhibit features sultans’ kaftans and Ottoman-style weavings that were mostly made in Venice. The display aims at representing the common textile culture that had been created and re-created for 800 years between the Ottoman Empire and Venice.

The exhibition is organized into two sections. The first section displays examples of textiles from the Bevilacqua collection, one of the oldest weaving companies in Venice, founded in 1700 and famous for its elegant fabrics. This archive is particularly rich in velvet, brocade and damask examples made for the Ottoman Court. The other section presents kaftans that are already present in Topkapı Museum’s permanent collection.

The exhibition will continue through Jan. 8, 2012 and was organized in collaboration with the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry Directorate of Cultural Beings and Museums, the Italian Embassy, Topkapı Palace, Italian Culture Center, UNICREDIT and Istanbul Italian Turkish Friendship Association