Artworks from the exhibition

Qatar Museums Authority’s Qatar Orientalist Museum will host the “The Art of Travel: Bartholom?us Schachman (1559-1614)” exhibition from November 15  to February 11, 2013 at the ALRIWAQ DOHA exhibition space, located next to the Museum of Islamic Art.
Being held under the patronage of QMA chairperson HE Sheikha al-Mayassa bint Hamad al-Thani and curated by Dr Olga Nefedova, collections director of the Orientalist Museum, the exhibition of Orientalist art and history will illustrate the importance of European-Ottoman relations throughout the 16th century.
The exhibition will introduce visitors to the story of a journey to the Ottoman Empire done by Bartholom?us Schachman (1559-1614), mayor of Danzig (Gdansk), traveller and explorer, art patron and collector, benefactor and connoisseur, who travelled through Europe, Middle East and North Africa between 1588 and 1589.
After his travel he commissioned an album, dated 1590, consisting of 105 full-page watercolour and pencil drawings on paper documenting what he saw during his travels, depicting the costumes and people of the Ottoman Empire, together with scenes of everyday life, festivals and ceremonies.
The exhibition, shaped and formed around the album, will provide visitors with a fascinating journey in time to 16th century Danzig and Istanbul, and the life of Bartholom?us Schachman.
A similar joint exhibition by QMA’s Qatar Orientalist Museum and the National Museums of Danzig named “Bartholom?us Schachman (1559 – 1614): the Art of Travel” opened in Gdansk on July 16, 2012.
The exhibition in Poland witnessed huge turn out from a wide spectrum of community members and remained on view till October 15, 2012.
A comprehensive education programme will complement the exhibition in Doha, including an international conference on December 9 during which distinguished scholars from art history, cultural studies, literature, architectural history, and Ottoman history, as well as museum professionals from Poland, Austria, and Qatar, will explore the subject of 16th century orientalism in art and history.
Among the speakers are: Olga Nefedova (Orientalist Museum, Doha), Sara al-Mana (Orientalist Museum, Doha), Tadeusz Majda (Professor Ordinarius, Warsaw University), Harold Lacom (writer and translator, Vienna) and Magdalena Mielnik (National Museum, Gdansk).
A number of creative and interactive workshops for families and schools are also scheduled to be held throughout the exhibition allowing visitors to create illustrations and dresses inspired by the orientalist paintings and Ottoman costumes.
A bilingual illustrated book by Olga Nefedova, with additional texts by Anna Frackowska, Sara al- Mana and Hyejung Yum is published by Skira to accompany the exhibition.