Other collaborations
In 2008 documentarist Remmelt Lukkien made a 52 min. video documentary on Sinan, Chief Architect of the Ottoman Empire, titled Sinan – A Divine Architect. The film was shown nationwide on Dutch television. Copies are available in Dutch public libraries. In 2010 it was screened at the International Festival of Films on Art in Montréal, Canada. In 2004 and 2005 Remmelt made research trips to Istanbul and Edirne, where he also met with Turkish Sinan-experts, asking for their collaboration. At the Netherlands Historical and Archaeological Institute in Istanbul (now the Netherlands Institute NIT) he visited Prof. Machiel Kiel, expert on Ottoman architecture, who was of great help. Dutch broadcaster AVRO TV wanted to co-produce and broadcast the Sinan film. The Turkish Embassy in The Hague introduced him to branches of Turkish banks in the Netherlands, who sponsored the project with small but welcome amounts. In 2005 Remmelt visited Under-Minister of Culture and Tourism Prof. Mustafa Isen in Ankara. Afterwards the Directorate of Copyrights and Cinema allotted money to the project. Through the Turkish Embassy in The Hague Remmelt received financial support from the Prime Minister’s office, enabling him to realize the film. The film was realized in 2007, with a mostly Turkish crew and with equipment rented in Turkey. All the experts in the film are Turkish. He filmed in Istanbul, Edirne and Sinan’s birthplace Aghirnas near Kayseri. Prof. Jale Erzen, Faculty of Architecture at the Middle Eastern Technical University in Ankara, has requested his permission (granted) to show the Sinan documentary in her History of Architecture sessions at the university. At the request of the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism he delivered 100 promotional copies of the international version of the documentary Sinan – A Divine Architect to Mr. Ahmet Temurci at the Turkish Travel Bureau in The Hague.
In 2007 and 2008, the city of Weert collected information about the arrival of Turkish guest workers in the ‘70s and ‘80s to the city and about their life and work in the first decennia of their stay in Holland. They wish to document the “roots” for next generations in Holland who have Turkish ancestors, so that they will also have access to the information of their ancestors.
In 2007 De Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam hosted the exhibition ‘Istanbul. The City and the Sultan’. This exhibition showed almost 300 historical objects from several museums from Istanbul, among others the Topkapi Palace.
http://www.nieuwekerk.nl/nl/tentoonstellingen/istanbul/
In 2007 there has been an exhibition and debates called ‘Ontmoetingen tussen de Bosporus en de Oude Maas’, organized by Fatush Productions in cooperation with the photomuseum rotterdam, Wereldmuseum Rotterdam and Willem de Kooning Academy Rotterdam.