TURANDOT: To the Daughters of the East

Turandot is one of the most complex and enigmatic figures in world mythology, literature and opera. Her story spans centuries, languages and artistic forms, reflecting enduring processes of cross-cultural hybridity and reinterpretation. The earliest known versions of the tale appear in Persian literature, notably in Nezami Ganjavi’s twelfth-century epic Haft Paykar (1197).

One story describes a distant Slavic or Russian princess, Nasrin Nush, whose wisdom and inaccessibility render her seemingly cold and untouchable. As the narrative travelled through oral and literary traditions, it accumulated new meanings and symbols. The name Turandot first appeared in 1710 in François Pétis de la Croix’s French retelling of Nezami’s tales, where she was reimagined as a Chinese princess, shaped by Western Enlightenment-era fascination with the “exotic” East. Two centuries later, Giacomo Puccini transformed the story into one of opera’s most dramatic works.

In Persian, Turandokht means “daughter of Turan”, a historical region corresponding largely to today’s Central Asia. The exhibition TURANDOT: To the Daughters of the East pays homage to women artists from these regions, whose works assert confidence, strength, intelligence and creative agency, echoing Turandot’s enduring voice.