Seidener Handel (Silk Trade)

INVITATION to a Book Presentation and Panel Discussion

Seidener Handel (Silk trade).

Basel and the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century.

Speakers:

Dr. Yiğit Topkaya (Author)

Dr. Aslı Odman (Mimar Sinan Güzel Sanatlar University)

Moderation:

Prof. Dr. Christoph K. Neumann (Orient-Institut Istanbul)

Thursday June 6, 2024, 19:00 (Turkish time; GMT +3) at the Orient-Institut Istanbul

Basel, at the beginning of the 19th century the largest and most prosperous city in German-speaking Switzerland, owed its wealth primarily to the worldwide export of silk ribbons. The manufacturers relied on a global trading and correspondence network that provided them with information about market and price developments, changes in fashion and consumer behaviour. Trading houses and merchants in the Ottoman Empire were also part of this network. Numerous letters from Istanbul, Izmir and Bursa reached the silk ribbon producers in Basel from the 1820s onwards.

This correspondence provides fascinating insights into the Ottoman silk market, which increasingly opened up to global trade in the 19th century. The book tells the story of merchants, manufacturers, trading houses, agents and bankers and traces the transformation of urban living and trading spaces in the course of industrialization and urbanization.

Dr. Yiğit Topkaya is a freelance historian and an associated researcher at the University of Zurich. He completed his PhD at the University of Basel. From 2014 to 2015 he was a visiting fellow at the Boğaziçi University and the Orient-Institut Istanbul. Currently he is working as an author of the new Basel city history (Stadt.Geschichte.Basel); since 2023 he is also a project member of the research platform arcotex.ch. His work focuses on the history of the Swiss textile industry and urbanization / urbanism in the 19th and 20th centuries; History of religion, church and Reformation as well as the history of media and figures of alterity in the 15th and 16th centuries.

This Event is supported by the Publishing House Christoph Merian Verlag and the Consulate General of Switzerland.

This event is free of charge, the event language is English. You may attend in person or online. Registration only needed for attending in person.

Photos or videos will be taken during the event. By participating, you agree that these may be used on the OII website, newsletter and social media. The event will not be recorded.

VENUE

Orient-Institut Istanbul

Galip Dede Cad. 65, Şahkulu Mah., TR – 34421 Istanbul

Tel: +90 212 293 60 67 oiist@oiist.org   www.oiist.org

REGISTRATION

To join this invitation IN PERSON, please register here:

To join this invitation ONLINE please use the Zoom Link, NO registration necessary:

https://eu02web.zoom-x.de/j/63649120167?pwd=QTJiWDBoUC9mUXB2QVhZK0RlMDJLQT09

Meeting ID: 636 4912 0167

Passcode: 458374