Due to its own conformation and geographical position, over the centuries Venice became, in spite of herself or fortunately, a city which exercised a magical appeal for nations facing the Aegean and Mediterranean.
If it is true that one of its "functions", in part imposed by destiny, in part coveted and striven for, often successfully and fruitfully, is that of being a great port to the Orient, quickly becoming an important mercantile power, it is also true that Venice did not possess a mere generic frontier or "reflexive" Orientalism, obedient to diplomatic exigencies, dictated by the need to stem the incumbent menace of the political, religious and economic supremacy of other nations, in this case, the Turks.
Here we are dealing with an Orientalism based on encounters, founded on the transfer of merchandise and art lore, vehicle of an aesthetic- cultural growth with spin-offs for both parties.
For this reason, Venice is now paying tribute to the Middle East and at the same time to itself, with a theme-exposition in the Doge's Palace, where all of the Serenissima's decisions regarding the Islamic world were made.
There will also be collateral events and an itinerary around the city to the places marked by the presence of the Near East (such as the Fondaco dei Turchi and the Dalmatian school of San Giorgio degli Schiavoni).
The grand exposition in the Doge's Palace, which covers the chronological period between 828 A.D., historical date of the transfer of Saint Mark's mortal remains from Alexandria, Egypt to Venice, until 1797, the date of the fall of the Venetian Republic, was born of a scientific collaboration between the Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.
It is directed by Stefano Carboni, organized and promoted by the Venice Municipality and by the Fondazione di Venezia, with the participation of Venezia Musei, CNS and Teleart.