ARTH 369 Studies in Middle Eastern Art and Architecture: Islamic Art

• Thursdays, 5:45-8:15 pm
• Instructor: Dr. Claudia Polledri

This course is an introduction to the material culture of the Islamic world, from the origins of Islam to the present day. The course is articulated around four main axes. First, we will establish a definition of “Islamic art” and analyze it according to cultural and religious implications (Grabar; M.K. Shaw). We will also look at the historiography of the discipline and examine how postcolonial theory has contributed to questioning the formal and regional categories that have long defined the field of Islamic art (Öztürk, Gazi, Bowker). Second, we will focus on selected moments, monuments, and objects in different regions, from the Arab Middle East and North Africa and Spain, to Iran, Central Asia, and Turkey, and consider the relationship of the visual arts to the history and geography of each region (Ettingshausen, Grabar, Madina; Blair and Bloom). To do this, we will adopt a transregional and intermedial approach that allows us to explore the connections and circulation of motifs. Third, we will explore the link between past and present by asking: how do contemporary artists from the Arab and Iranian world reinterpret “classical” motifs from Islamic Art? How “Islamic” is Contemporary “Islamic” Art (Abdallah, Gruber, Haugbolle, Naef)? Finally, we will examine the role of the museum institution in creating a new narrative about Islamic art departments by introducing dance, music and performance into Islamic art museum programs, particularly in Europe and North America; and we’ll look at what museological approaches adopted by museums in the SWANA region.