City on the Edge – KHI Summer School 2024, Two Lands Two Seas II: Istanbul

Since Ottoman times, Istanbul has been described as a city between two lands and two seas (al barrayn wa al bahrayn). But it is not only a city on the edge of continents and bodies of water. It is precariously placed between tectonic plates; between seismic geopolitical forces; between the push of global capitalism and the pull of tradition. The 2024 KHI Summer School will reflect on Istanbul’s distinctively long, complex, and intertwined histories, present, and futures. Once Second Rome and the Ottoman seat of government, the cosmopolitan city has been sacked, invaded, occupied, built and rebuilt many times. Its journeys through time thus radiate many layers of construction, conversion, disfiguration, erasure, and transculturation. As an urban site of collective memory, it also embodies, relatedly, many traumas and contradictions. At once unprincipled and preposterous, it is also captivatingly beautiful.

Situating Istanbul’s layered history and geopolitical position in conversation with myths, legends, literature, and theories of urbanization and globalization, this year’s summer school of the KHI will consider the art, environment, urban development, cultural heritage, as well as the cultural and economic capital of the vast city. How has it connected with its distant and near histories, and how does it envision its futures? What threads unite and separate its relationship to historical scales and acts of domination, memories and encounters? How has it engaged with forced or self-imposed change, disasters, and violence on human, animal, and plant ecologies? And, as art historians what perspectives can we offer in considering its urban trajectories? In what ways can literature, music, and food interconnect with art and architecture to resist artificial borders to explore the city, and offer alternative projections for the futures of Istanbul?

The KHI invites applications from art history and related disciplines, from graduate students, doctoral candidates, and scholars who are embarking on post-doctoral research. The number of participants is restricted to twelve. Each participant is expected to contribute to the success of the course not only with presentations, but also by actively engaging in the discussions. They will be held in English, however, passive knowledge of Italian, German, and/or Turkish is a plus.

The Institute will bear the cost of accommodation and will reimburse half of the incurred travelling expenses; in addition, participants will receive a daily allowance. Applications should include: a letter of interest, a one-page research statement, a curriculum vitae, and a presentation proposal (250 words max.), but it is not obligatory. These materials can be written in English, Italian or German.

Please send your documents by 30 June 2024 in a single PDF file (max. 2 MB), referencing ‘Studienkurs 2024’, to studienkurskhi.fi.it.

Concept and organization: Sinem Arcak Casale, with Annette Hoffmann, Lunarita Sterpetti, and Gerhard Wolf.

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Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz – Max-Planck-Institut
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50121 Firenze, Italia
+39 055 24911-1
infokhi.fi.it

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