Departing from the exhibition Min-yatür 2.0 – Miniature in Contempo-rary Art, shown in winter 2020/21 at the Pera Museum in Istanbul, Turkey, this article discusses con-temporary artworks dealing with Ottoman manuscript paintings. The analysis focuses on the phenomenon of ambiguity that arises through the processes of appropriation of this art form by contemporary artists from Turkey as well as the overlapping of diverse narrations. Three of the exhibited artworks, by CANAN, Halil Altındere and Cansu Çakarare discussed here with regard to their artistic approach to this tra-ditional art form. The analysis discusses these artworks against the backdrop of discourses built upon binary constructions, like Orient and Occident, tradition and modernity, the discourse on ‘Islamic Art’, and the ambiguous relation to the Ottoman past throughout the history of Turkey. Moreover, this article explores concepts of time and space used in Ottoman manuscript paintings and how these concepts are incorporated by the artists discussed. Contemporary and critical artistic approaches challenges constructed differences and open up an ambiguous space of resistance.