Mohammad Gharipour, Irvin Cemil Schick (eds.). Calligraphy and Architecture in the Muslim World

This volume is a large collection of 28 articles dedicated to the question of calligraphy in architecture in the ‘Muslim’ World. The articles or chapters were authored by a wide variety of specialists such as artists, art critics, art historians, and historians. As stated in the introduction, the main question addressed is the function of calligraphy in architecture. Was calligraphy meant to be read? How? And by whom? Was it supposed to communicate a message through its text (indicative, comm..

Islamic Architecture: An Architecture of the Ephemeral

Written as an introduction to the Architecture of the Muslim world, this paper discusses the underlying similarities of different regional architectural styles developed by Muslims over a vast geographical area during a period between the late seventh century and the early twentieth century. After briefly describing regional variations, the paper describes the basic building types, both religious and non-religious, that Muslims built in different regions. Among the important building types briefly described are mosques, tombs, caravansary, and urban dwellings. Following this, the paper describes gardens built by Muslims and their design principles and symbolism. An important feature of architecture and landscape architecture of the Muslim World, gardens represented the Qur’ānic promise of a heavenly garden in paradise as a reward for faith and purity. With water and trees, these gardens created places of respite and calmness in mostly hot arid zones of the Muslim world. After gardens, the paper describes the guiding principles of decorations in the architecture of the Muslim world. Rich in their symbolism, decorations were among the most important unifying aspects of architecture and fine arts in the Muslim world. They were often used for imparting a sense of impermanence to the material world, and for providing a visual demonstration of the infinite extensiveness of Allah. The paper also describes the basic elements of decorations in art and architecture, which include calligraphy, architectonic elements, vegetal elements and arabesque, human and animal figures, color, light and geometry. After decorations, the paper describes the underlying principles of the architecture of the Muslim world. Often used unconsciously, these principles helped establish a connection between the symbolic as¬pects and the formal aspects of the architecture of the Muslim world. They include a perpetual relationship between the sacred and the secular, a search for harmony between verticality and horizontality, a search for unity in the interior, and a search for expressiveness on the exterior. Finally, the paper describes many unifying forces, such as religion, language, and migration, which might have helped produce the hidden similarities underneath the apparent differences seen in the architecture of the Muslim world

Sino-arabic Script and Architectural Inscriptions in Xi\u27an Great Mosque, China

The Islamic art have played a significant role in the development of Muslim Chinese community in China, it wasdeveloped through time in response to cultural needs of the minority Muslim groups in China. The Islamiccalligraphy was widely used in architecture, especially in interior and exterior decoration of mosques andother religious buildings. The aim of this study is to interpret the Islamic art and architecture in China throughapplication of Sino-Arabic script on mosques and crafts produced by Muslim minority in China in relation to theIslamic civilization and Chinese civilization, in order to suggest some guidelines for the preservation of thisforgotten Islamic heritage. To achieve the aim of this paper the Sino-Arabic inscriptions will be examined inorder to determine their characteristics and the nature of the effects to which they have been subjected. Abroad range of information was collected from various sources and through a field survey that was carried outin Xi\u27an Great Mosque in China. The collected information from field work will be analyzed with particularregard to the special character of Chinese Islamic art and architecture. This study is an attempt to addressthe important topic of Islamic calligraphy and its application on architectural buildings in China as part ofissues of Islamic architectural heritage and its integration with local tradition that have been occurred in theMuslim world and it is hoped that it is going to be a significant contribution to the subject of Islamic art andarchitecture in China as well as revival and preservation of this forgotten heritage. Detailed conclusion will bearrived at the end and specific suggestions are intended to assist in examining the topic in depth and helping indeveloping guidelines for regional expansion and adaptation of Islamic art and architecture with localenvironmental condition to contribute more for the future of Muslim heritage and civilization

I Am a Shirt

In order to understand the technological developments and achievements of the Islamic world, it is important to highlight the different processes, practices, and techniques used in creating objects, whether artistic or otherwise. This paper follows a plausible journey for a single shirt, from its initial creation as a piece of cloth to the epigraphic designs that gave it its deeply religious and mystical power to whoever wore it in Mughal India

The Transformation of Calligraphy from Spirituality to Materialism in Contemporary Saudi Arabian Mosques

Contemporary discourses by both Western and Muslim scholars on the subject of Islamic philosophy and art, especially the influence of globalisation on Islamic Art in general and the art of calligraphy in particular, have drawn attention to the new architectural styles of mosques in Saudi Arabia and the representation of calligraphy in them. The present study aims to analyse the impact of globalisation on the transformation of calligraphy in Saudi Arabian mosques, and investigate the paradoxical nature of authenticity in relation to the art of calligraphy. In this study, the historical, theoretical and qualitative data were amassed as part of the methodology. A qualitative descriptive method to a case study approach was the primary approach for data collection. The main aim was to understand the historical mapping of the origin and development of calligraphy, analysing its outcomes in the context of the contemporary mosques in Saudi Arabia. The results section focuses on the answers obtained from a questionnaire directed at artists and calligraphers, and in the interviews conducted with experts in calligraphy. The discussion section focuses on the detailed analyses of the answers. The study demonstrates the process of change and the misrepresentation of calligraphy and its applications inside the mosques selected for study, including forces that have been influencing such change. Consequently, the results show that there is a remarkable transformation of calligraphy in its form and function in contemporary mosques in Saudi Arabia. This transformation has been caused by due to several dominant factors including the way of representing calligraphic patterns, the impact of the local culture, and spread of the culture of materialism and globalisation

Introduction

The seminars entitled Palaeography Between East & West, which I convened at Sapienza University, aimed at offering a forum, a place of sharing knowledge and debate, to scholars who deal with manuscript materials in various languages and alphabets. Entitled “Paleografia, paleografie. Esperienze a confronto” (2 March 2011), “Tra lingue e scritture. Itinerari grafici nel Mediterraneo e oltre” (2 April 2012), “La Paleografia tra Oriente e Occidente” (5 April 2013), “La Paleografia tra Oriente e Occidente – Palaeography between East and West” (19 May 2014), these seminars (Figs. 1-4) gathered contributions about very different areas. The essays gathered in this volume contribute to the idea of a world pale- ography. I very much hope that the field of palaeography, and the related do- mains of book-history and manuscript-culture, will receive more attention in future, and scientific recognition as an autonomous domain of research with- in Islamic studies and as a proper field of research within palaeographical studies

The diminishing of indigenous artistic tradition in the decorative arts of the mosques in the Malay World

Unlike their counterparts in the Islamic mainland, the vernacular mosques of the Malay World seem to lack the ‘grandeur’ in architecture as well as in ornamentation. During the time that the Muslim world in the western part of the Malay World were achieving artistic and technological breakthrough in mosque architecture, the 17th and 18th century witnessed a period of architectural vacuum whereby no architectural development was recorded. The aim of this study is to analyse the changes taking place in the decorative arts of the mosques built between 15th to 20th century in order to understand how the decorative arts of mosques in the Malay World evolved. By following the routes of Islamisation, the study charted the development in mosque architecture and documents the changes in mosque building elements, design and decorative arts. The study highlights the period in history when the artistic creations were most prominent and the declination of local arts only to be replaced by decorative schemes introduced by Colonial administrations in the 19th and 20th century buildings

In what ways does cultural identity emerge, after a pedagogical intervention using Islamic arts, in Year 11 visual arts students in an Islamic school?

In this research, I used art education (visual arts) as a tool to assist students in deepening their learning about their cultural identity. The research goal was not only to record and interpret students’ artworks and reflections but to change and improve educational practice and opportunity. This doctoral project engages a design-based research framework and practitioner-based method, which accommodate the various cultural identity factors and links between Islamic arts and contemporary art practice in different school settings. In this research, the educators assisted students in their learning, helping them identify where there were gaps in cultural knowledge that served to avoid the disconnect students can experience from learning when they do not understand how they fit within their school community and society generally. This design-based qualitative research involved data collection over a 12-month period and included pre- and post-questionnaires, interviewing, observing, taking field notes and photos, analysis of students’ work and content analysis. It was founded on implementing a new Year 11 visual arts program, called the Art and Identity program, in three Islamic schools: the Australian International Academy of Sydney, Melbourne and Abu Dhabi schools (three sister schools). Findings showed that through engagement in the Art and Identity program, the students learned they could use the message system of semiotics, sometimes unconsciously, and choose signs and symbols so the people viewing their art would understand the intended meaning. The findings were clearly expressed in three themes—faces, places and traces—and these key features were either individually or collectively evident in the students’ works. The findings also showed that the students developed an understanding and appreciation for the influences of historical Islamic art tradition and combined this with contemporary art practices, rendering the themes of faces, places and traces as historical, hybrid and modern, and part of their cultural identity. The research showed that students connected to culture, identifying areas such as the emergence of culture, self, belonging and language. In conclusion, communities, teachers and students all connected during the students’ identity journeys. The use of signs and symbols was a powerful way for students to express their feelings about their individuality and culture. The student participants looked deeply at everything around them—their traditions, language, heritage, religion, beliefs, belonging and community. Cultural identity was conveyed through cultural expression in an artwork; the intention of each artwork was investigated, and each artwork told a story about the identity of each student artist