Conflicting International Identity: World Fairs

An outside perspective of the Ottoman Empire bath house exhibition for the Paris 1867 World Fair.

Featuring many of the amenities of actual hamams, the Ottoman World Fair display sought to charm and endorse the experience of Turkish bathing.

The Ottoman Empire’s participation in the 1867 and 1873 World Fairs epitomized how difficult it was to construct a consistent national narrative, and a collective memory of a particular cultural phenomenon. Despite the trend of urban renewal in Istanbul and its downplaying of bath houses as backwards, the Empire was moved to portray an image of itself on the ultimate international platform. World expositions have long had a history of commemorating national architectural feats and technological advancement. It is the chance to engage in nationalistic competition, pushing higher and higher limits on innovation and inherently, putting the country’s best foot forward. (1) Thus, it was curious to note the Ottoman Empire’s choice to draw inspiration from hamams for both world expo presentations. The selection for the 1867 Fair consisted of an Ottoman mosque, fountain on a plaza, home structure and hamam bath. The bath itself was a spectacular rectangular building that was modeled after typical hamam’s like Cemberlitas, an interactive display that allowed spectators to enter a traditional Orietnal bath. (2) The same structure was reutilized again in the 1873 World Fair, a demonstration of Ottoman rather than Ancient Greek or Byzantine roots. To present to the world the very phenomenon that was being marginalized at home encapsulated the divisiveness of what Turkish residents believed about the site. While the push for Istanbul’s future was an increasingly Western platform, when confronting the West itself, the Ottoman Empire acknowledged that its own bath history was one that made the country unique.