Embodied ideologies: Hagia Sophia contended status between mosque and museum/Ideologie incarnate: Hagia Sophia contesa tra moschea e museo

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2022-06-27

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13138/2039-2362/2761

Autori

  • Hakan Tarhan IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca
  • Yeşim Tonga Uriarte IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca
  • Maria Luisa Catoni IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca

Abstract

This research aims to analyze how cultural heritage gets involved in the political discourse and to what extent it affects the status and functions of a specific cultural asset by taking Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, as a case study. As a symbolically charged monument with a multifaceted history, it was transformed into a museum in 1935. Nevertheless, the contemporary usage of Hagia Sophia has become a contested matter in the last 65 years, with the emergence of a public demand to use the monument as a mosque. Such a public demand has also been backed at the political level and resulted in tangible outcomes within the last two decades. Consequently, the monument was transformed into a mosque in July 2020. The study demonstrates that Hagia Sophia has always been involved in political discourse(s) since its construction due to its multiple symbolic values. The contemporary shift in the discourse had both the tangible and intangible dimensions of the monument.

 

Questa ricerca analizza i modi e i contesti in cui il patrimonio culturale entra nel discorso politico e gli effetti di tale coinvolgimento sullo status e sulle funzioni del patrimonio culturale stesso. L'approccio è quello dello studio di caso e il bene culturale analizzato è il monumento di Hagia Sophia a Istanbul. Si tratta di un monumento ad alta densità di significati, dal punto di vista sia propriamente architettonico e storico artistico sia simbolico sia religioso sia storico. Haghia Sophia diviene museo nel 1935. Tuttavia, l'uso contemporaneo di Hagia Sophia è stata una questione controversa nel corso degli ultimi 65 anni, con l'emergere di una richiesta pubblica di usare il monumento come moschea. Tale richiesta pubblica è stata sostenuta anche al livello politico e ha raggiunto un picco significativo negli ultimi due decenni. La conseguenza più tangibile di tale richiesta pubblica è che il monumento è stato trasformato in moschea nel luglio 2020. Questo studio dimostra che i molteplici valori simbolici legati ad Hagia Sophia hanno dato a questo monumento, fin dalla sua costruzione, un ruolo di primissimo piano, di cardine potremmo dire, all'interno di discorsi specificamente politici.  Il cambiamento contemporaneo dell'orientamento e della narrazione di ambito politico hanno riguardato la dimensione sia tangibile sia intangibile del monumento.

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Biografie autore

Hakan Tarhan, IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca

Ph. D. Candidate, Analysis and Management of Cultural Heritage, LYNX - Center for the Interdisciplinary Analysis of Images

Yeşim Tonga Uriarte, IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca

Assistant Professor, LYNX - Center for the Interdisciplinary Analysis of Images

Maria Luisa Catoni, IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca

Full Professor of Ancient Art History and Archaeology, Coordinator of Ph.D. Program Cognitive and Cultural Systems, Director of LYNX - Center for the Interdisciplinary Analysis of Images

Come citare

Tarhan, H., Tonga Uriarte, Y., & Catoni, M. L. (2022). Embodied ideologies: Hagia Sophia contended status between mosque and museum/Ideologie incarnate: Hagia Sophia contesa tra moschea e museo. Il Capitale Culturale. Studies on the Value of Cultural Heritage, (25), 519–539. https://doi.org/10.13138/2039-2362/2761