Imagine Me and You unveils the vibrancy of multicultural exchange between the Low Countries (roughly modern-day Belgium and the Netherlands), then part of the Habsburg empire, and the Islamic world, in particular the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires that concurrently controlled much of Central and Southeast Europe, North Africa, and South, West and Central Asia. Prompted by the rich diversity of these empires, the exhibition explores a wide range of artistic, cultural, diplomatic, and mercantile interactions that took place either in person or through the peaceful exchange of objects, art, and ideas over the course of three centuries. This exhibition disrupts the persistent notion that war—in particular, religious strife between Christians and Muslims—dominated interactions between the Low Countries and the Islamic world.
Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669), Portrait of Aurangzeb (after a Mughal painting), ca. 1655
Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge
Photo: © President and Fellows of Harvard College; courtesy of the Harvard Art Museums
Imagine Me and You traces these multiple encounters through the world of Netherlandish artworks and their varied representations of the Islamic realm. Looking also at the ways in which contemporary Ottoman fashion played a role in biblical and historical scenes by Netherlandish artists, the exhibition invites viewers to reflect on the profound impact these interactions have had on crafting our shared history. This dynamic interplay between cultures unearths revelations about individual heritage and the broader global community. While acknowledging the complexity of establishing the origin of certain hybrid objects, the exhibition ultimately suggests that it is more important to amplify and celebrate these objects’ multicultural and multifaceted characteristics.
The approximately 120 objects in the exhibition include drawings, prints, paintings, textiles, and more; the works come from the collections of the Harvard Art Museums as well as from the Maida and George Abrams Collection, The Tobey Collection, other Harvard institutions, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In addition to sumptuous textiles and striking wool carpets from Turkey and intricate album paintings from the Ottoman and Mughal periods, there is a range of drawings and prints from Dutch, Netherlandish, and other artists, including Margaretha Adriaensdr. de Heer, Haydar Reis, Pieter Coecke van Aelst, Melchior Lorck, Nicolas de Nicolay, Lucas van Leyden, Jacob Marrel, Rembrandt, and many more. A display of historical pigment samples sheds light on some of the materials these artists used.
The exhibition is curated by Talitha Maria G. Schepers, 2022–24 Stanley H. Durwood Foundation Curatorial Fellow, Division of European and American Art, Harvard Art Museums.
A digital resource was created in conjunction with the show. It dives deeper into the core exhibition themes of encounter and imagination through a variety of contributions, ranging from short texts focused on a single object to longer technical studies. Featuring a multitude of voices from across the Harvard Art Museums and Harvard University, this digital tool offers perspectives that enrich our understanding of the artworks in unique ways. The online platform allows us to broaden the investigation beyond the works displayed in the galleries and extends the life of the exhibition.