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The Imagined
Harem
Subject
Length: 52 minutes
Programme formula: cultural
The Imagined Harem - where Western fantasy meets Oriental fact
The imaginative depiction of the harem in Western art is worlds away from the
reality of the true-life harems of the East. It was this contrast between the
romanticised image and the historical truth that I found fascinating and which
made me decide on the subject of the film.
As the main source of inspiration of Western artists was drawn from the harems
of the sultans, my focus gravitated quite naturally to these renowned Turkish
harems.
Perspective
Using the knowledge we have of harems today as a contrasting benchmark, I shall
flesh out the vision of the harem as it appeared through the eyes of Western
artists with examples drawn mainly from painters and writers, I intend to show
how this vision has continued to persist right through to the present day.
Because of the vivid contrast between facts and fantasy, the film is underpinned
by the dynamic interaction between the reality of actual harems and western
dreams about them.
TREATMENT
What image do we have of harems in the West?
European harem fantasies have their taproots sunk in a variety of art forms. In
the field of painting, for example, the works of Ingres, Matisse, Delacroix or
Picasso supply a wealth of fanciful inspiration, just as do those classic
Hollywood films portraying harem wives as scantily clothed belly dancers eager
to please their ravishers. Then we have operas, which include Verdi's Aïda,
Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail and ballets, such as Diaghiliev's
Sheherazade. Whatever the form, harems are serially depicted as fantasy
wonderlands, dripping with sex and sensuality and brimful with vulnerable, naked
women.
From the 18th century onwards, similarly imaginative visions were drawn from
European translations of A Thousand and One Nights, which at the time was
considered a reliable representation of the Islamic world. I shall underline
this key role played by the imagination in Western art, using comments by people
from the West about their ideas, perceptions and fantasies of what harems were
really like.
This will be contrasted with the historical truth.
The historical reality of the harem
The sultan's harem was hermetically sealed off from the outside world. In its
heyday, during the 17th and 18th centuries, the harem precincts were strictly
guarded by an army of 600-800 eunuchs. Veiled in an aura of secrecy, people
still do not fully know exactly what went on there. They were haram, which means
forbidden, protected, holy. The women's quarters were thus called HAREM.
Except for the sultan and the princes, no man was allowed to enter the women's
quarters. The eunuchs guarded not only all entrances and exits, but also all
passageways, courtyards and storerooms. At times, the bodyguard of the sultan’s
mother alone consisted of thirty men.
In other words, Turkish harems of that period were most certainly not palaces
draped with half naked women, hanging around in marble halls, waiting on their
master‘s whim. They weren't naked at all, but on the contrary were usually
concealed under multiple layers of clothes. The harem was a world in itself,
governed not by a man but by a woman. And this woman, the contemporary
equivalent of a prime minister, was not the sultan's first wife as is commonly
supposed, but the sultan's very own mother. It was to her that her son’s most
personal possessions, his wives, were entrusted. She too, was the one who in
turn selected the women for her son.
The film will explain the origins of the harem system, describe the strict
hierarchy in the sultans harem and describe its eventual decline and fall.
How did we come upon this information about harems in the West?
As it was virtually impossible for writers or painters to enter a harem, fact
and fiction are often extensively intertwined in their reports and depictions. I
will show how art and literature helped create a distorted image of the harem in
Western culture over the centuries.
Amongst others I intend to use excerpts from travel diaries/stories. I will also
use a number of accounts written by European women, as it was slightly easier
for women to gain admittance to a harem. They were able to visit the harem
inmates and report on their true adventures, as did Lady Montagu, an
ambassador’s wife, in the 18th century.
In the 19th century, the popularity of Oriental art caused a true craze in the
West for all things Turkish. The upper class had their portraits done dressed in
Turkish robes. And while European painters were still trying to capture the
colour of oriental exoticism, sketching away in small alleyways, in markets, in
Turkish baths and busy painting odalisques on cushions, western influence had
meanwhile penetrated all the way to the soft centre of the harem.
Even the typical, soft-cushioned Oriental way of life was being replaced by
imported chairs and sofas. While in the West, the posh were lounging on cushions,
the posh in the East were, awkwardly, starting to sit up straight.
Format
The closed nature of the harem will serve as backcloth for the way Western art
grafted itself onto the East. My intention is to illustrate as many facts as
possible through images alone; such as recurring shots of high walls, closed
gates and barred windows, in themselves revelatory of the hermetic nature of the
harem. I will try to let these shots ‘speak for themselves’ as much as possible.
This approach will highlight to best advantage the contrast between the rigid
reality of historical truth and the dramatised images we have of harems.
I will back up the ‘suggestive’ images with writings by Eastern women. The
archives of the Topkapi palace contain correspondence from the harem; for
instance the letters that Roxelana, Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent’s first wife,
wrote to her husband. These letters reveal the power and authority that a woman
in her position held at the time.
In order to prevent the images in Istanbul from being too static, I will include
some scenes with minimal acting. For example: At the same time as Western
painters are indulging in orgies of colourful Eastern cushions scattered with
lounging harem women, European chairs and tables are shown being carried into
the Dolmabaçhe palace. The first appearance of harem trousers in the West is
mirrored by Turks starting wearing tight western trousers.
The introduction of Western objects into this otherwise so impenetrable world
serves as a symbol for the pervasive influence of the West.
By repeatedly mixing these kinds of images and movements, the cultural cross-fertilisation
will become clear on screen.
The showing of key Western “harem” paintings will be accompanied by readings
from those literary sources (insofar as these can be traced) that inspired the
artists.
I will also use expressions in modern art, in which we can see that the point of
view of the artist hasn’t changed over the years.
Also young modern Turkish artists represent the ladies of the harem naked. That
is the reason why I will ask Turkish and Dutch academy students to design a peep
show (i.e. a box with a little hole, through which you can see a harem scene)
because of its voyeuristic character.
Throughout the film we will see fragments of the progress of the work of two
students, one Turkish and one Dutch student.
At the end of the film we show a compilation of the finished work of all
students.
The people who will be interviewed
The film will feature interviews with Professor Zeynep Inankur, Professor Nurhan
Atasoy, Professor Necdet Sakaoðlu from Turkey, and Nahed Selim from Holland:
Professor Zeynep Inankur has worked at the Art History Department (Western and
Contemporary Art) of Mimar Sinan University since the 1970’s. She has undertaken
research on the harems of the sultans and is expert on Oriental art. She will be
our guide in our search for the facts and roots of the harem fantasies.
She is amongst others author of Constantinople and the Orientalists, and has
carried out research on the sultans' harems and is expert in the field of
oriental art.
She will, where necessary, put Western art in its historical context.
Professor Necdet Sakaoðlu is a historian and author of numerous books about the
harem. He will talk about the architecture of the palace. Based on the location
of the rooms of the sultan, his mother and the sultan’s wives, he will analyze
how the internal relationship between them must have been.
Professor Nurhan Atasoy was during her academic life B.A., M.A., Ph.D. at the
department of Fine Arts and Art History, She retired in 1999 and works at the
moment to complete the unfinished projects and on new projects; she lectured at
many international congresses and symposiums, participated in research and
international meetings on Turkish and Islamic art throughout the World.
In our film she will talk about the life of the women in the harem. In
particular the separation of women slaves and the way they dress.
Nahed Selim is interpreter and author. She is from Egypt, but lives in Holland.
She published amongst others the book ‘The women of the prophet’ about the
origin of the separation of women and the origin about the use of veils. She
will tell us about her conclusions.
Music
Ruhi Ayangil will be our guide for the Turkish court music. Besides the music of
Ensemle Ayangil
I will give examples of women composers from the past and the present day.
The music group The women's ensemble of Istanbul play in authentic costumes 'music
of the harem'.
Advice
Dr. Kiymet Giray is the author of various books. Besides, her investigations,
articles and critiques about the art history, especially on Turkish Plastic Art
and Turkish Painters, Dr. Giray works especially on the Harem in Art and gives
workshops about this subject.
I intend to ask Dr. Giray to supervice the making of the harem ‘peep shows’ of
the academy students.
Emre Araci read music at the University of Edinburgh and graduated in 1994. He
became Research Associate at the Skilliter Centre for Ottoman Studies, Newnham
College, University of Cambridge, where he did research on European music at the
Ottoman court. Nowadays he is a composer and conductor and has been based in the
United Kingdom since 1987. He founded the Edinburgh University String Orchestra
in1992 and is director of the London Academy of Ottoman Court Music.
Emre Araci will be our adviser for the Western music influenced by Eastern
sources.
Professor Machiel Kiel is a historian and art historian of the Islamic world.
Kiel has, among other things, more than 160 publications to his name on the
cultural history of the Ottoman Empire, is an expert in the field of eastern
miniatures, has contributed to French, English and Turkish encyclopaedias and is
adviser in Islamic art in Bosnia for Unesco. He will be our adviser for the
Turkish miniatures.
Current status of research
As far as the art material is concerned, we know what is extant and where it can
be found, but we still need to make a selection. The same goes for literary
quotations and excerpts and examples from other art forms.
To date, no information has been obtained regarding the rights of the above.
Production team
Director: Liesbeth Hagen
Production houses: Lagestee Productions, LUCA Film
Broadcaster AVRO, represented by Marijke Huijbregts
Camera: Andras Hamelberg
Sound: Menno Euwe
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