Friday 18 March
Sons of the Conquerors: The Rise of the Modern Turkic World
Foreign correspondent and writer Hugh Pope discusses the recent social, political and economic successes of major Turkic states stretching from the Balkans to China. Five hundred years ago, Turkic dynasties held sway over large areas of India, the Balkans, Russia, China and the Middle East. Numbering 140 million people worldwide, they are now rising again. Their biggest state, Turkey, has the largest economy and army between Europe and India. Propelled by new Caspian oil wealth, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are also emerging powers in the region. While Turkic states show little sign of any impending political unity, there is a new convergence of languages, cultures and business. In an increasingly conflicted and diverse Muslim world, they offer an alternative example of pragmatic, secular Islamic governance, a readiness to work with the West and an ambition to succeed.
Venue: Reynolds Room, Royal Academy of Arts, London W1
Time: 6.30pm–7.30pm
Tickets: £14/6 students (includes exhibition entry and a drink); £10 (includes a drink). Click here to download a booking form for this event.
Friday 1 April
The Evolution of Sinan’s Imperial Mosques in Cross-Cultural Perspective
The grand imperial mosques of Sinan, the chief architect of the Ottoman empire between 1539 and 1588, are celebrated for their centralised domed spaces, often compared with parallel developments in Renaissance Italy. Sinan is particularly renowned for his innovative mosques in which the central domed baldachin appears weightless and the interior surfaces bathed in light. Professor Gülru Necipoglu, Harvard University, traces the evolution of Ottoman imperial mosques from the second half of the fifteenth century onward, culminating in the masterpieces of Sinan. The development of these imperial mosques is presented against the comparative backdrop of Italian Renaissance church architecture to highlight cross-cultural dialogues across the eastern Mediterranean basin during the early modern era.
Venue: Reynolds Room, Royal Academy of Arts, London W1
Time: 6.30pm–7.30pm
Tickets: £14/6 students (includes exhibition entry and a drink); £10 (includes a drink). Click here to download a booking form for this event.
