New York: Rethinking Islamic Art – by Maymanah Farhat at Jadaliyya com (Read and Listen audio at source)

[Gallery 454: Egypt and Syria (10th-16th centuries) New Galleries for the Art of the Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and Later South Asia, Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York]

In post 9/11 America, where culture has become a battleground for warring ideas and New York City is precariously positioned as its epicenter, Islamic art is in fashion again. This time, however, it is not the tricky, definition-defying territory of contemporary art that is being touted as a window into the impenetrable souls of Muslims, it is Islamic art in its historical sense—the art and architecture that emerged during centuries of dynastic rule throughout West, Central, and South Asia, across the Mediterranean, and down through North and Sub-Saharan Africa (although not necessarily in that order). The span of history that is often covered under the term “Islamic art” begins in the seventh century with the first organization of Muslim societies under the Prophet Mohammad’s successors and ends with the Ottoman Empire amidst its demise during the First World War. Although it has often been studied according to the rise and fall of Islamic rule across a vast geographical area, a clear definition of “Islamic art” remains murky even among contemporary scholars.  

Read complete article and listen the audio  at Jadaliyya com

 

->>>>><<<<<-