PUBLIC LECTURE: The �liquid frontiers� of Islamic art: Interaction and exchange in the medieval period

Islamic art can be defined with an elaborate sentence as the art produced for the most part by (but by no means exclusively) Muslim artists and craftsmen beginning from the 7th century CE in those areas of Asia, Africa, and Europe that were for the most part ruled by Muslim leaders and which was produced for the most part (but by no means exclusively) for Muslim patrons and a general Muslim clientele. Such an awkward definition is meant to emphasize that there existed a common artistic vocabulary extending beyond those facets and thus allowing a collective understanding of architectural forms, object shapes, surface decoration, and calligraphic patterns.

Since East/West is plainly a geographic dichotomy, it is the boundaries of Islamic art that become particularly germane to this issue. This is one of the most peculiar, stimulating, and exhilarating aspects of this field because these boundaries constantly changed and represented porous frontiers by way of which there were constant exchanges, interactions, and cross-effects both within the confines of the Islamic world and between Europe and Asia through the intermediary of the giant puzzle that is Islamic art.

This lecture is free and open to the public, no RSVP required.

This event is co-sponsored with: Perth Medieval and Renaissance Group; Network for Early European Research; Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies; Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts; UWA Cultural Precinct; and the Centre for Muslim States and Societies at The University of Western Australia.