The exhibition will go on display from the 7th November until the 9th May 2027.
The Victoria & Albert Museum has announced Constantinople to Istanbul: One City, Two Empires, which will chart 1,600 years to take visitors on a journey through the history of one of the world’s great cities, dropping in on its best-known landmarks, from the Hippodrome and Hagia Sophia to Topkapı Palace and the Galata Tower.
Constantinople to Istanbul: One City, Two Empires will showcase objects that are rarely seen, some dating back from as far as the 4th century, drawn from the V&A collection as well as national and international loans. The aim is to tell the story of an imperial city over more than a millennium through its globally important art, its everyday luxuries and the
staging and re-staging of power.
Spanning AD 330 to 1922, it will bring together remarkable works of art, design
and architecture to reveal the enduring creative legacy of an imperial capital that
shaped the Mediterranean world and far beyond. It will be the first exhibition in the UK to cover this story of the city in full.
The city once called Constantinople and now called Istanbul was the imperial and
religious capital at the heart of two successive empires: the Byzantine (AD 330–
1453) and the Ottoman (1453–1922), and the exhibition will explore their
distinct yet connected traditions of art and design, built across sixteen
centuries. It will follow changes in patronage and production that reflect the ups
and downs of the city’s history, and the lasting impact its creative output had in
the Christian and Islamic worlds.
The exhibition will showcase over 200 objects across four main sections, including
rarely seen decorative arts such as fine silks and textiles (including historical
dress), ceramic tiles, mosaics and tableware, precious metalwork and jewellery,
as well as sculpture and architectural furnishings, works on paper, manuscripts
and paintings.
Tim Stanley, Curator of Constantinople to Istanbul, said: “Creating this
exhibition has been an exciting adventure, bringing together two worlds that are
usually kept well apart – the Byzantines and the Ottomans. Their capital – known
first as Constantinople and then as Istanbul – was and is one of the greatest cities
in the world, and the artistic ideas generated there in its double history as an
imperial capital still play a major role in the world. By combining the stories of
these two empires and the amazing art they both produced, we have been able to
release the stories of Constantinople and Istanbul from their separate boxes and
let them enjoy the limelight together.”
Tickets for the exhibition will go on sale soon here.