CONFERENCE (5.45pm-7.30pm): "Murano-Istanbul: A Glass Making Journey IX: LÂLE"

Tulips (Lâle in Turkish) were introduced to Netherlands from the Ottoman Empire in the late 16th century. The diplomat Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq had famously named the flower mistakingly after the “turban”. The flower, symbolising paradise after its stylised scripture, quickly became a status symbol, leading to 17th-century "tulip mania" where bulbs came to cost more than real estate.

The tulip became one of the symbols of the Ottoman court, gaining particular prominence during the 18th-century Tulip Era, and was widely used in many art forms such as ceramics and textiles. Lâledan is a distinctive vase of Beykoz glassmaking combining aesthetics and functionality, with a slender neck and pear-shaped body, produced in various types of glass designed to display a single tulip.

Programme:
- Lale Dilbaş (Prof. of Ceramic & Glass and Dean of the Faculty of Art and Design at Yasar University, Izmir, Turkey)
The Tulip Tradition and The Lâledans

- Efe Murat Balıkçıoğlu (Asst. Prof. Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Visiting Scholar Harvard University)
Encoding the Tulip: Secret Floral Semiotics in the Ottoman Empire

- Michael Barry (Prof. American University of Afghanistan, Doha (Qatar) & Venezia; Lecturer in Islamic Studies, Princeton University 2004-2016; Consultative Chairman, Islamic Arts, Metropolitan Museum, 2005-2009; Légion d’honneur, Paris 2021): Wisdom In The Mirror: Reflections of the Infinite


CONCERT (7.30pm): "2gether in Venice"
The rich tradition of Mediterranean maqam music joins the expressive freedom of jazz. Yinon Muallem (Oud, Percussions, Vocal) & Saman Alias (Clarinet) meet friends from the Venetian scene: Gerardo Balestrieri (Piano, Vocal) - Francesco Socal (Saxophone).