Symposium looks at diplomacy, culture

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

The topics at the symposium will focus on historical importance of the Ottomans.

Organized by Don Juan Archiv Wien, in cooperation with Istanbul’s Pera Museum, The UNESCO International Theatre Institute annual symposia entitled “Ottoman Empire and European Theatre” will examine the various performative expressions of 17th and 18th century Turkish and Ottoman culture and diplomacy on European theatre stages. The symposium will take place on June 13 and 14.

This year’s conference “Culture of Politics or Cultural Politics: Ambassadors as Cultural Actors in the Ottoman-European Relations” will explore the cultural role of ambassadors between the Ottoman Empire and European States from the very beginnings until the early 19th century. The diplomatic visits and public audiences of, be it Ottoman ambassadors at the European courts, or be it European ambassadors at the Ottoman Court were frequently events of high allure and influence: not only politically and diplomatically, but also culturally and on a popular level.

The topics at the symposium will focus on the historical importance of the Ottoman Empire’s presence in Europe is highlighted by its frequent appearance in theatre, music and arts. The aim of Don Juan Archiv Wien’s annual symposia entitled Ottoman Empire and European Theatre, alternately hosted in Vienna and Istanbul between 2008 and 2011, is to explore, on the one hand, the various performative expressions of 17th and 18th century Turkish/Ottoman culture and diplomacy on European theatre stages, and on the other hand, the appearance of European theatre and opera in the Ottoman Empire, and the Ottoman attitude towards Europe.

The 2013 conference will take place on the occasion of the 265th anniversary of Mustafa Hatti Efendi’s (ca. 1680-1760) Vienna Mission (1748), who was the first Ottoman ambassador to Vienna (1748) in the 18th century to mention “opera” and “comedy” in his Sefâretnâme, and the eighth envoy before the first resident Ottoman embassy in Vienna was established under the reign of Sultan Selim III (r. 1789-1807).