Section 04 · Art

Art Diary — Constantinople to Istanbul

Constantinople to Istanbul: One City, Two Empires at the V&A, London, 7 November 2026 to 9 May 2027.

· London

One city, two names, two empires. Constantinople to Istanbul: One City, Two Empires opens at the Victoria and Albert Museum on 7 November and runs until 9 May 2027. The museum calls it a UK first.

The show follows the city through its Byzantine and Ottoman centuries, with more than 200 objects: ceramic tiles, mosaics, tableware, metalwork and jewellery.

For anyone who loves blue, the tiles are the reason to go. Ottoman potters at Iznik made some of the most famous cobalt-and-white ceramics in the world, covered in tulips, carnations and leaves, and they still line mosques and palaces in Istanbul today.

The V&A has one of the great collections of this material, and this is a rare chance to see the city's story told in objects, from mosaics to plates.

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