Islamic Art: Past, Present, Future

by Jonathan M. Bloom (Editor), Sheila S. Blair (Editor)

In a world where the making and consumption of art is constantly changing, the term "Islamic art" can be hard to define. Through the exploration of a wide array of media—from painting, sculpture, and photography to video and multimedia—an internationally renowned group of scholars, collectors, artists, and curators tackles questions such as whether the art has to come from the Middle East, whether it must have a religious component, and, indeed, whether the work of art must be made by a Muslim. Based on a series of papers presented at the 7th Biennial Hamad bin Khalifa Symposium on Islamic Art in 2017, the essays in this volume grapple with these questions from a range of viewpoints. These texts—including beautiful illustrations of major works by contemporary artists from the Muslim world, including Newsha Tavakolian, Shahzia Sikander, Hassan Hajjaj and Lalla Essaydi—invoke a lively discussion of how the arts of the Islamic lands link the past with the present and the future.

Distributed for the Qatar Foundation, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar

360 pages, Hardcover

Published July 16, 2019

Reviews

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jonathan M. Bloom and Sheila Blair edit a collection of essays from the 7th Biennial Hamad Bin Khalifa Symposium on Islamic Art--a partnership between Qatar Foundation and Virginia Commonwealth University--with the 2017 theme "Islamic Art: Past, Present, and Future". This book includes color images, 12 chapter essays, 2 Q&A panel transcriptions, a bibliography of featured art, and biographical descriptions of each essay author. Chapter topics include: defining meaning & value in contemporary Islamic art; curating Islamic Art; images in art; themes of gender, power, and tradition; inspiration among "a community of nomads" (or maybe 'disaporic' experiences and artists); a feminist reclaiming of history through methods; photography; "contemporary" or "modernity"; past and contemporary architecture; art in social context(s); cinema; past and present regional trends. While some readers seeking an authoritative definition of Islamic art might be frustrated and while some readers might desire broader artistic representation beyond MENA (represented in this book by art involving Iran, Iraq, Morocco, Pakistan, Turkey, as well as a survey of South East Asia and Australia), other readers seeking new questions to ask about the term (as well as its participants or subjects) should find much to consider.