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A performance bringing together the Ottoman, Persian and European musical traditions made its U.K. premiere in London, combining historical travel narratives with storytelling, visual design and 4D spatial sound technology.
Organized by the London Yunus Emre Institute, or YEE, the interdisciplinary performance titled "Echoing Travelogues: The Beyond and Us" was staged at The Tabernacle, a historic arts and culture venue in Notting Hill.
The event brought together guests from the arts, academia and diplomatic circles, including London YEE Director Mehmet Karakus and Türkiye's Consul General in London, Ambassador Hasan Ulusoy.
Through the event, the London YEE aimed to position the British capital as a meeting point for historical reflection, artistic dialogue and intercultural exchange.
Led by artistic director and Istanbul kemenche performer Emine Bostanci, the production brought Dareyn Ensemble together with the Dutch group Holland Baroque on the same stage.
The program drew on travel accounts, diplomatic observations and cultural encounters from the 15th to 18th centuries. These historical narratives shaped a musical journey stretching from Istanbul to Vienna and from Iran to Europe.
The performance brought Ottoman court music, Mevlevi musical traditions, Persian classical music and the European Baroque repertoire into dialogue. Mevlevi music refers to the musical tradition associated with the Mevlevi Sufi order, known for its ceremonial practices and spiritual repertoire.
On stage, Bostanci performed the Istanbul kemenche—a bowed string instrument linked to Ottoman and Turkish classical music. Zeynep Yildiz Abbasoglu played the qanun, while Judith Steenbrink performed on Baroque violin, Tineke Steenbrink on positive organ and Vinsent Planjer on percussion. Nora Fischer joined the performance as narrator.
The stage design drew inspiration from symbolic locations including the Hagia Sophia, the Topkapi Palace, the Mevlevi lodges and St. Stephen's Cathedral.
The 4D spatial sound design offered audiences an immersive experience by evoking the acoustic traces of different historical spaces. Through sound, narration and visual atmosphere, the production set out to reinterpret the sonic world of past centuries in a contemporary performance language.
"Echoing Travelogues: The Beyond and Us" examines how different cultures encountered one another through historical travel writings.
The work draws on the notes and observations of historical figures such as Levinus Warner, the Dutch ambassador to Istanbul of his period. Through these accounts, the performance explores how societies define their identities when facing the "other."
Rather than presenting identity as something shaped by fixed borders, the production approached it as a dynamic process formed through encounter, interaction and perception.
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