Oxford International Collaboration Centre - History of Islamic Art and Maternal Culture

Address

Oxford

Description

This course consists of a historical exploration of the arts, architecture, and material culture of the Islamic world from the Middle Ages to the 18th century. Meant to introduce and overview these rich cultural productions for a broad audience, the course will explain the concepts and terms related to patronage, technologies, use, function, and meaning of the objects and monuments presented in the classes. The material will be discussed in relation to the religion, political history, and philosophy of Islam. Will be examined the many forms, media, styles, and modes of visual expression that contributed to the great diversity of Islamic material culture. The most representative artworks and monuments will be critiqued upon both criteria of their historical significance and artistic achievements.

Dr. Valerie Gonzalez

Lecturer: Valerie Gonzalez

Specialism: Islamic art history and aesthetics.

Valerie.gonzalez152@googlemail.com; vg13@soas.ac.uk

Valérie Gonzalez, Research Associate, SOAS, University of London.

Gonzalez obtained her Ph.D. in Islamic Studies at the University of Provence Aix-Marseille, and a Master of Fine Arts, School of Fine Arts, Marseille-Luminy. She was awarded scholarships from Kunsthistorisches Institut-Max-Planck-Institut, Florence, Trinity College, Dublin, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture (MIT), the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton.

Books: Aesthetic Hybridity in Mughal Painting, 1526-1658, Ashgate 2015; Insights on Islamic Aesthetics, Visual Culture and History/Shvatanja Islamske Estetike, Visualne Kulture I Historije, 2006; Le piège de Salomon, La pensée de l’art dans le Coran, Albin Michel, 2002, and Beauty and Islam, Aesthetics of Islamic Art and Architecture IBTauris, 2001; Emaux d’al-Andalus et du Maghreb, 1994.

Course objectives

Introducing the world of Islam through both its spirituality and visuality
Learning about the history and cultural developments of Islam
Stimulating appreciation of the Islamic arts and their meaningful beauty Showing the richness of Islamic artistic creation throughout history
Giving a sense of the conceptual foundations of Islam as both a faith and a way of life

Certification

Upon completion of the programme, you will receive a Certificate of Attendance from the Oxford International Collaboration Centre.

Tuitions

Registration fees

Professionals: £175 – Book Online

Students: £115 – Book Online

Class schedule:

10 session-course (1 hour 30 per session, 2 sessions per week),

Date and time of first class:

Tuesday and Thursday, 4pm- 5.30pm, from May 4 to June 3.

Course Outlines:

WEEK 1

Introducing Islam; the creation of Islamic institutions. Early Islamic art under the patronage of the Umayyads in Great Syria. Art of the latter’s successors in the Umayyad caliphate of al-Andalus (present day Spain).

WEEK 2

Artistic development in the vast Abbassid Caliphate until the Mongol invasion in the thirteenth-century, and in its Shiite rival, the Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt.

WEEK 3

Artistic culture in the Islamic East after the Mongol invasion; the Ilkhanids and Timurids in Iran and Central Asia.

WEEK 4

Artistic culture in North Africa and Al-Andalus from the 12th-century to the 15th century: the Ayyubids and Mameluks in Egypt; the Hispano-Berber empires in the Maghreb and al-Andalus; and the last Muslim kingdom of the Nasrids in Al-Andalus.