ART AND VISUAL CULTURE OF THE ISLAMIC WORLD

This is one of the interdisciplinary courses (C) that are part of the bachelor's degree programme in Language, culture and society of Asia and Mediterranean Africa (Near and Middle East); it contributes to the student's formation by offering him/her a different perspective on the area under study, that of the visual arts; it provides him/her with new knowledge and analytical tools to understand the complexities of the past and present.

The student will acquire specific knowledge on the visual culture of certain regions of the Mediterranean and Western Asia, from the advent of Islam to the present day. He/she will acquire basic skills that will enable him/her to read and deconstruct visual art and to better understand, through this perspective, the socio-political context that generated it.

The course does not require specific competences.

The course will focus on specific moments in the formation and evolution of visual arts in the Islamic world, between past and present.
One part of the course will look at the formation of a new visual culture and its evolution, between earlier traditions and innovations (e.g. the definition of the mosque; the transformation of cities and territory since the conquest; 'iconic' monuments). Another part will explore the issue of figurative representation in the Islamic world, between tradition and contemporaneity.
A substantial part of the course will be devoted to the visual art of selected areas, focusing first on a particularly significant period of their past, then moving on to the 20th century and the contemporary; the analysis of the works will be approached on the basis of the socio-political context that generated them, between colonialism, Orientalism and nationalism. For example: Iraq (Abbasid period, with the creation of the new capitals; visual arts and politics from the end of the Ottoman period to Saddam); Iran (the great season of illuminated manuscripts; visual arts and politics from the Shah, to the revolution, to the contemporary); Egypt (Fatimid period: a new Mediterranean perspective; visual arts and politics from the British Mandate to the contemporary); Ottoman Turkey.

- Selected chapters from M. Hattstein and P. Delius, Islam: Arte e Architettura, Konemann 2001, pdf MOODLE platform (Alternatively, the student can choose another textbook - in English or in other languages, upon teacher's agreement)
- Christiane Gruber, Images of the Prophet Muhammad: Brief Thoughts on Some European-Islamic Encounters, in Seen and Unseen. Visual Cultures of Imperialism, edited by Sanaz Fotouhi and Esmaeil Zeiny, Leiden e Boston 2018, pp. 34-52 (pdf)
- Silvia Naef, L’iconicità dell’Islam contemporaneo: forme di rappresentazione e comunicazione, in R. Tottoli (a cura di), Islam, vol. III di Le religioni e il mondo moderno, Torino, 2009, pp. 642-664 (pdf)
- Robert Irwin, Islamic Art in context, New York, 1997, pp. 167-191 (pdf)

Specific texts on modern and contemporary art will be made available on the Moodle platform during the course.

At the oral examination the student will be required to illustrate the topics treated in the course, with the help of images.
The examination aims to verify that the student has acquired basic knowledge about key moments in the history of the visual arts, and has developed the necessary tools to look at the Islamic world and its long history through the perspective of the visual arts.
A complete list of the topics on which the exam questions will focus will be published upon completion of the course.

Frontal lessons will be illustrated with images; ppts of each lecture will be made available on the MOODLE e-learning platform.

Italian

oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "International cooperation" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development