Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/33827
Title: Politics, aesthetics and the Ottoman Cemetery
Authors: Petroni, Nikki
Keywords: Galizia, Emanuele Luigi, 1830-1907
Thake, Conrad, 1963-
Sagona, Mark, 1976-
Malta -- History -- British occupation, 1800-1964
Art and architecture -- Malta -- History -- 19th century
Architecture, Ottoman -- Malta
Romanticism in architecture -- Malta
Exoticism in architecture -- Europe
Orientalism in art -- Europe
Islam and architecture -- Malta
Turkey -- History -- Ottoman Empire, 1288-1918
Europe -- Civilization -- Turkish influences
Cultural pluralism -- Malta -- History -- 19th century
Politics and culture -- Malta -- History -- 19th century
Memorials -- Malta -- History -- 19th century
Cemeteries -- Malta -- History -- 19th century
Said, Edward W., 1935-2003. Orientalism -- Criticism and interpretation
Abdülaziz, Sultan of the Turks, 1830-1876
Turkish Cemetery (Marsa, Malta)
Schembri Bonaci, Giuseppe, 1955-
Issue Date: 2016-07-24
Publisher: Standard Publications Ltd.
Citation: Petroni, N. (2016, July 24). Politics, aesthetics and the Ottoman Cemetery. The Malta Independent, pp. 25.
Abstract: This article discusses the Ottoman Muslim Cemetery in Marsa: its origins and how the country’s political and social history effects the site’s heritage and conservation. Designed by the well known Maltese architect and civil engineer, Emanuele Luigi Galizia the site was completed before 1876. It was commissioned by (then) Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Abdülaziz I, as a final resting place for members of the Turkish military under the permission of the British colonial authorities inhabiting the island. A big part of the discussion is this ‘cross-cultural’ collaboration itself. Referencing the work of intellectuals and industry professionals (i.e: Professor Conrad Thake, Dr. Mark Sagona, Dr. Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci) Petroni highlights the kind of political and ideological complications associated to the site today. How (socio-political) memory, identity and healing could compromise, overlook and underestimate the cultural and artistic significance of this masterpiece. Instead, readers are encouraged to widen the very definition of heritage itself. The site as, i.e: Ottoman heritage & representation, history of Maltese architecture, Europe’s search for the exotic during the nineteenth century, visual cultures within the Islamic world, etc. Petroni also quotes the seminal book ‘Orientalism’ by Edward W. Said (1978). A selection of photographs accompany the text.
URI: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar//handle/123456789/33827
Appears in Collections:Melitensia Works - ERCWHMlt

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