Once the center of international seagoing trade between Europe and the rest of the world, Venice was the point from which European and Venetian goods departed from the continent and where ships filled with a wealth of spices, pigments, precious stones and glittering fabrics from the East set anchor. With over 200 objects on display, this exhibition at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris – transferring to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York next March – explores how trade with Ottoman and North African lands influenced not only Venetian decorative arts and architecture but also fashion and learning. In return, Venice's knowledge of perfumes, dyeing, art and cosmetics was diffused around the Mediterranean and Black Sea. A fascinating exploration of lands and cultures that are now a short plane trip from each other but were once worlds apart.