QC Talks, Lusail Museum Conversations to present ‘Painting Like a Man: Women Artists of Ottoman Empire’

Doha, Qatar - QC Talks, the university's cultural exchange program, is set to present an enlightening lecture titled "Painting Like a Man: Women Artists of the Ottoman Empire" on Tuesday, October 20, 2026. This event, hosted at Georgetown University in Qatar, features Dr. Gizem Tongo, a Research Associate at the Khalili Research Centre at the University of Oxford, who will delve into the world of women artists during the late Ottoman period.

Dr. Tongo's lecture will explore the life and work of Mihri, an artist born in Istanbul in 1885 and trained in Paris at the École des Beaux-Arts. After returning to Istanbul, Mihri played a pivotal role in founding the Academy of Fine Arts for Women in 1914, serving as both an instructor and director. Her work, recognized by a Louvre curator as painting "like a man," was a subject of admiration and controversy, reflecting the societal expectations placed on women artists.

Through archival research and a vast visual collection, Dr. Tongo will present Mihri's career alongside her female peers, placing their experiences within the broader context of Orientalism, aesthetic hierarchies, and artistic agency. This discussion will shed light on how women artists navigated the constraints imposed on them, often confronting and even transforming these limitations in their creative pursuits.

The event is part of QC Talks and Lusail Museum Conversations, which champion cross-cultural dialogue and exchange, embodying the mission of these initiatives to foster understanding through discourse. Scheduled from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM in the Faculty Conference Room at Georgetown University in Qatar, Education City, the lecture promises to offer a profound insight into the lives and contributions of women artists within the late Ottoman Empire.