Hala Qasqas Synopsis: This talk explores khayal al-zill (shadow theater) as a central feature of recreation and urban sociability in late Ottoman Damascus. Focusing on nineteenth-century coffeehouses, it examines the material craft of translucent leather puppets, the performance practices of the puppeteer, and the interplay of light, music, colloquial speech, and improvisation. It shows how…
Tag: Modern and Contemporary Art Topics
Aisha Khalid’s “Your Way Begins on the Other Side” in the Aga Khan Museum
Elizabeth Rauh Synopsis: Aisha Khalid’s 2014 Your Way Begins on the Other Side is a large, dual-sided textile installation that weaves together various historical art traditions and materials across Islamic history and global contemporary art. Crafted by Khalid’s workshop team in Lahore, the artist’s research in embroidery and geometry as well as sacred environments are…
A Badge of the Persian Order of the Lion-and-Sun in the Aga Khan Museum
Aseman Talebi Synopsis: The lion and sun motif, known in Persian as shir-o-khorshid, recurs across Iranian history in many different forms and materials. The Badge of the Order of the Lion-and-Sun, held at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, is one such object that displays the leonine-solar duo. The order was crafted as a diplomatic…
A Sini Block-Printed Poster of Buraq: Amuletic Devotions in Modern Muslim China
Christiane Gruber and Yueling Li Synopsis: This talk introduces a block-printed poster of Buraq, the Prophet Muhammad’s human-headed flying steed, held in Sini Gallery at the Tareq Rajab Museum in Kuwait City. This poster portrays Islamic prayer as a spiritual ascension via its inclusion of the Qur’anic “night journey” verse (ayat al-isra), the depiction of…
The British Appropriation of Mughal Pacchikari (Stone Inlay) in Agra, ca. 1840-1940
Lola Cindrić Khamseen Graduate Student Presentation Award 2024 Recipient Synopsis: One of the most distinctive ornamental features of 17th-century Mughal architecture is its stone inlaid decorations, known in Hindi and Urdu as pacchikari. Drawing from rougher forms of polychrome inlay in the previous centuries, this craft reached its apex under the patronage of the emperor…
The Bryce Miniature Qur’an and Its Travels Across the Globe
Mira Xenia Schwerda Synopsis: This talk focuses on a miniature Qur’an executed in golden ink and housed in a metal locket, now held in the collection of the Centre for Research Collections at the University of Edinburgh. This Qur’an may look like a manuscript, but it is an early printed book. It reproduces a handwritten,…
Mohamed Zakariya and the Practice of Calligraphy
Nancy Micklewright Synopsis: This presentation examines the creation of traditional Arabic calligraphy today through the life of Mohamed Zakariya, the foremost practitioner of this art in the United States. Beginning with Zakariya’s journey from Southern California to Virginia, via Morocco and Istanbul, we consider the core elements of Arabic calligraphy and some of Zakariya’s stunning…
Picture in Picture: Images of the Sultan in Balkan Princely Portraits
Alison Terndrup Synopsis: This presentation dives into the relationship between power and sartorial symbolism by looking at portraits of hospodars, or local leaders of Ottoman-Balkan principalities. In the early- to mid-nineteenth century, territories in Southeastern Europe – including the areas we know today as Serbia and Romania – underwent a period of political, economic, and…
“Do-For-Self”: The Visual Culture of the Nation of Islam
Christiane Gruber Synopsis: The Nation of Islam (NOI) was founded in 1930 as a politico-religious movement for Black empowerment in the United States. During the 1960s and 70s, the NOI’s official newspaper, Muhammad Speaks (1960-75) included numerous essays, op-eds, and illustrations promoting the moral and salvific value of the Islamic faith, especially in contradistinction to…
Ottoman Costume Portraits: Photographs in the Elbise-i Osmaniyye
Erin Hyde Nolan Synopsis: This presentation examines the Elbise-i Osmaniyye, a catalogue of popular Ottoman costumes commissioned by the Ottoman court for the 1873 Vienna World’s Fair. The Elbise contains 320 pages of text and 74 phototypes of men and women in regional dress. Photographic albums such as this one – which were made in…