​Burçak Bingöl

 Jardin Particulier
 

 October 24th-27th, 2017

French Palace, Istanbul, Turkey

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In 16th century, like the Europe, The Ottoman has also been fascinated by the Chinese blue and white porcelain that travelled along the Silk Road. When these precious ceramics arrived to Asia Minor, the artists were not only inspired by them, but also adopted and evolved Chinese ceramics into a highly distinctive Ottoman Court style. The exquisite form and abstraction of the floral motifs reached its artistic peak on the 18th century in city of İznik. Highly intricate in details and in style, this floral decoration that was applied on vessels and tiles were named “çini” meaning “belong to China” in Turkish. The word had carried and evolved, reflecting the very origin of this visual culture. It is not only the vessels but also the verbal and visual grammar traveled and transferred through Silk Road.

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Jardin Particulier is about how artistic ideas traveled along this trade route and got translated in different cultures, geographies through various mediums, forms and images in the past as well as today. From the Şah Kulu’s garden depiction on a çini panel on Topkapı Palace that was inspired from Chinese mythological themes, to the garden of Chateau de Bagnolet Cognac and to the French Palace Istanbul, Jardin Particulier thinks on cultural exchange, and the continuity of artistic interactions.