The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London will host an exhibition on Istanbul, presented in Turkish as “Konstantinopolis’ten İstanbul’a: Bir Şehir, İki İmparatorluk” (From Constantinople to Istanbul: One City, Two Empires), in partnership with Koç Holding and with support from the Huo Family Foundation. It runs from 7 November 2026 to 9 May 2027.
Spanning AD 330 to 1922, the exhibition explores how creative production took shape over 1,600 years in a city that was capital of both the Byzantine and Ottoman empires, through outstanding works of art, design and architecture. Curated by V&A Senior Curator Tim Stanley and Project Curator Bella Radenovic, it is the most comprehensive treatment of this story ever staged in the UK.
Laid out along a route from the Hippodrome and Hagia Sophia to Topkapı Palace and the Galata Tower, the show includes 19th-century Ottoman women’s garments and fine calligraphy from the Sadberk Hanım Museum Collection of the Vehbi Koç Foundation, as well as Osman Hamdi Bey’s painting “Gezintide Kadınlar” (Women on an Outing) from the Yapı Kredi Collection.
Many of the 200 works on display are on loan from institutions including the Topkapı Palace Museum, Istanbul Archaeological Museums, Hagia Sophia History Museum, Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, Turkish Manuscripts Institution, Istanbul Harbiye Military Museum, the Benaki Museum in Athens, the Treasury of San Marco in Venice, the British Museum and the British Library. Some will be shown in the UK for the first time.
Date and Venue
- 7 November 2026 – 9 May 2027: Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), London
