Christopher de Bellaigue

Christopher de Bellaigue is the author of ‘The Islamic Enlightenment: The Modern Struggle Between Faith and Reason’ (Vintage). ‘The Lion House’, the first of a trilogy about the life and court of Suleyman the Magnificent, will be published in March.

A rally against Islamophobia at Bastille Square, Paris, in 2014. Photo: Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Can the Louvre really counter Islamophobia in France?

A major exhibition across 18 venues is highlighting the rich variety of Islamic art. But can it stem the growing prejudices in French society?

Christopher de Bellaigue

31 Jan 2022

The interior of the Yildiz Hamidiye Mosque in Istanbul, commissioned by Abdulhamid II and completed in 1886, photo: Salvator Barki/Getty Images

Why Ottoman style is in vogue in Erdogan’s Turkey

Ottomanism is in and modernism is out – as the state of three mosques shows

Christopher de Bellaigue

2 Dec 2017