Islamic Art, Architecture and Material Culture

Description

This collection of papers sprang from a workshop hosted in 2007 by the Centre for the Advanced Study of the Arab World (CASAW) at the University of Edinburgh. The first half deals with such media as metalwork, textiles and ceramics. The second focuses on the built environment and on the arts of the book. The whole thus offers a representative survey of most of the major categories of Islamic art. The chronological range stretches from the beginnings of Islamic art, in the form of the earliest Qur’anic scripts, to the work of a contemporary Iraqi artist. Some papers offer revisionary suggestions on questions of provenance; others take original perspectives on familiar material; others bring in external material to shed light on problems, engage with issues of iconography and symbolism, or present brand-new material. These varied studies show that Islamic art history in its multiple manifestations is thriving in Britain as it is elsewhere.