Istanbul Tulip Festival



ibb.gov.tr

Many people know the root of the word "tulip" comes from the Turkish word "tülbend", meaning gauze. Well, "tül" means gauze. Tülbend has more to do with the shape of the gauze, because tülbend is derived from the Persian word for turban, "dulband". Anyhoo, bulbs were wrapped in Ottoman tülbend for shipment to Europe and the rest is history. 

 

In Turkey, the tulip is seen as a symbol of abundance (probably because Europeans paid a fortune for each bulb) and a signature of the Ottoman "Lale Devri" or Tulip Era. (More creative than "golden age", don't you think?)



This April was the sixth year Istanbul hosted the festival, and there were 11.5 million bulbs planted in various parks around the city. Every bulb was domestically grown in Çumra or another one of the small towns surrounding Konya out on the Anatolian plain. (Why get tulips from Holland, when they grow in the backyard practically by themselves, right? My only real question: why was this only the sixth festival?)

So if you've seen the Keukenhof , the Chelsea Flower Show and every other garden event you can think of, try Istanbul. This festival has music, ebru (marbled paper - very bookish) and all sorts of art, plus a spectacular setting. The official website is in Turkish, but check out the pdf brochure  in English for all the breathtaking details, especially if you love flowers. Sigh. Next year.... 

 

turkishclass.com - I think. It's all over the web without proper credit.
Thank you to the photographer, whoever you are! 



The Ottoman Tulip

Istanbul’s Tulip Festival

6th International Tulip Festival begins in Istanbul

Arabic Calligraphy

The Ottomans wrote in Arabic calligraphy and it scrolls across historic buildings all over Turkey. As an art form, the elegant, interlaced lettering is worthy of framing. However, it's a good thing Ataturk changed everything over to a Latin alphabet, or I'd never figure out what anything meant!

Take for example, the Tuğra (seal or signature) of Suleiman the Magnificent at the right. Talk about a John Hancock! I can't figure out where the first letter is...forget about finding a word. To be sure, most building names are more linear. But Arabic lettering, even written by a regular person, has a way of connecting and contorting itself into something I can't decipher.

(It's also written from right-to-left, which adds to my overall confusion. Maybe it's just me though, I tried learning Cyrillic when I studied Russian and even though that's written left-to-right, only a few of those letters stuck. An interesting aside: Kurdish can be written with Arabic lettering, Cyrillic lettering, or Latin lettering.)

 Some calligraphy is even shaped into objects, like the bird below.

I asked my beloved to translate it for me. (He reads Arabic and speaks Turkish, so he should be able to come up with something, right? Well...)

After some head tilting and a few mumbles, we know that someone named Abdulreni wrote it in...1167? Something about Mevlana...so he must have been a Sufi. You know, one of the whirling Dervishes, like Rumi...and something about Allah, so it's a religious piece. Besides that, your guess is as good as mine.

You might think anyone who can manage to read the Arabic lettering would understand. Yet the Ottoman words themselves are Turkish, so someone who only spoke Arabic wouldn't know what the words meant, even if they could recognize the letters. Which makes sense, because I can't read Latin, even though English uses the same lettering.

Another interesting aside: Farsi, the language of Iran (Persia), also uses Arabic lettering, but with modifications.

Some Interesting Links:
http://www.lesartsturcs.org/calligraphy/index.html

What's in a Name?

Image via Wikipedia

Somebody named Will once said that "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."  That's true, but how about I call you Bob for the rest of the week? Bet Bob doesn't mind that, but the rest of you might get a little annoyed.

New York hasn't been New Amsterdam since 1667. Thailand hasn't been Siam since 1939. Istanbul is not Constantinople. Since 1453.

Not since an extremely weakened (by the the 4th Crusade) Eastern Roman Empire was taken over by the Ottomans.

You'll notice 1453 is before Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492 and before cartographer Amerigo Vespucci took the prize of naming my fine homeland.
 
This is my first opinion piece ever on this blog. I can't apologize to people who don't agree, but I believe certain historic sites belong to all of us and it's our duty to preserve them the best way we know how. Endangering the status quo of neutralized places is in no way beneficial. Neutral is good for a historic building.

Example:

The iconic model for mosques around the world, Hagia Sophia, is also the best example of Byzantine architecture. It is now a museum.  A move designed by the secular Turkish government to protect and preserve it for future generations unscathed. Work is constantly being done to uncover breathtaking mosaics in the building, which was once a church and then a mosque. Religious services, by anyone, are prohibited. Seems the best middle ground any logical person could come up with.

There are lots of amazing places in Turkey which fall into this grey area. Once one thing, then another, sometimes even repurposed again. It's part of a long and complex history. So while Turkish people are proud of the heritage and architecture left behind by the many different societies that once called Thrace home, Istanbul is distinctly their city.  It is not Constantinople.

Heck, there's even a song about it!


They Might Be Giants - Istanbul (Not Constantinople) from They Might Be Giants on Vimeo.

Related articles

• Turkey may bar Greek Orthodox mass at Hagia Sophia (reuters.com)
• Sultanahmet- A Historical Treasure Chest (mydestinationinfo.com)

Symbolic Design

Last week we visited the subject of Turkish Iznik tiles so this week I thought we could learn about some of the designs.

Tulip:

• Symbol of the Ottoman Empire
• Meanings include submission, modesty, or love

In Burnt Amber the tulip arabesque visits those meanings in Sybil's wardrobe and in one other strategic place (sorry, no spoilers here).

Tree of Life:

• Known in many cultures as the world tree, for example the Norse Yggdrasil or Hindu Ashvastha
• Symbolic of the cycle of life and death, but also represents the interconnectedness of everything.

The design appears in Burnt Amber with the phoenix. I've also seen versions of the actual tree recently in Avatar and The Alchemist.

Çintemani:

• Three pearls, topped by two double clouds thought to represent dragons
• Used on items for the sultan, especially his robes.
• Meanings include power, strength, protection

My kids reminded my about it recently when I was looking for blue amber. The çintemani stone is important in their video game, Uncharted 2. Never know where your next inspiration is going to come from you know...I'm using the çintemani in the next book, if I ever get to it.

Of course there are many other patterns in tilework and textiles, but these are the ones you'll find in my work.