In conjunction with Under the Sultan's Shadow: How Imperial Identity Shaped Ottoman Life and Culture, join us for a special event exploring the rich cultural history of coffee and the Ottoman coffeehouse.
Visual artist, researcher and educator Dr Deniz Sözen will present her artistic research tracing coffee's remarkable journey from its origins in Ethiopia and the Arabian Peninsula through the Ottoman Empire, before reaching Venice, Vienna and eventually becoming a global cultural tradition. Drawing on history, migration and material culture, the talk explores how coffee travelled across continents, carrying with it new ideas, customs and ways of gathering.
Following the talk, partake in a Q&A with Dr Sözen before enjoying our pop-up kahvehane. A kahvehane is a traditional Ottoman coffeehouse and for centuries, these spaces served as vibrant centres of conversation, storytelling, poetry, music, learning and community life. Inspired by this tradition, visitors are invited to enjoy a freshly brewed cup of Turkish coffee while exploring the exhibition and discovering the connections between coffee, culture and the Ottoman world.
📅 Saturday 25 July 2026
🕑 2:00–4:00 pm
📍 MIAH Foundation, Moseley Community Hub, Balsall Heath, Birmingham
🎟️ Free - donations encouraged (booking required)
About the Speaker
Dr Deniz Sözen is a visual artist, researcher and educator, and Assistant Professor in the History of Art in the Department of Art History, Curating and Visual Studies at the University of Birmingham. Deniz Sözen specializes in contemporary art practices and decolonising theories in the context of globalisation and diasporic art. She is particularly interested in Black and non-hegemonic art histories, with particular focus on artistic strategies that destabilise fixed notions of belonging and identity in relation to cultural theories concerned with hybridity, creolisation, opacity, decolonisation, nomadic consciousness, and anthropology beyond the human. She is actively invested in the development of decolonising methodologies, which also informs her teaching practice.
Further reading: Sözen, D. "Trans Plantations" in Sharpening the Haze: Visual Essays on Imperial History and Memory, edited by Giulia Carabelli et al. (Ubiquity Press, 2020).
Photo credit: Ottoman miniature of a meddah performing at a coffeehouse. Public domain