Spaces and Visions

The Historians of Islamic Art Association (HIAA)

Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, Harvard University
Aga Khan Trust for Culture
Hussah Sabah Salem al-Sabah, Director General, Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah, Kuwait
Iran Heritage Foundation
Turkish Cultural Foundation
University of Pennsylvania, Centre for Ancient Studies (CAS)
University of Pennsylvania, Department of Cinema Studies
University of Pennsylvania, Department of History of Art
University of Pennsylvania, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations (NELC)
University of Pennsylvania, Department of Religious Studies
University of Pennsylvania, Department of Women's Studies
University of Pennsylvania, Middle East Centre (MEC)
University of Pennsylvania, South Asia Centre (SAC)

Prof. Renata Holod (University of Pennsylvania)

A symposium exploring the manifold issues facing the discipline of Islamic art today. From archaeology to cinema studies, all aspects of the visual culture of the Islamic world are included within its purview. The symposium is intended as the inauguration of a biennial cycle of meetings within the field of Islamic art history in order to reflect its growth, to support its expanding methodological, regional, and temporal scope, and to give HIAA greater visibility internationally as the leading organization for historians of Islamic art, architecture and archaeology. This gathering will bring together papers from more than fifty senior and younger scholars of Islamic Art History as well as related fields such as architecture, archaeology and cinema studies, among others.

The first day, "Out of Late Antiquity," takes up the field's formative emphasis on early Islamic art, a field remade in recent years through continued archaeological investigations and critically informed readings of the historical sources. The second day, "'Unity and Variety' Once More: Time, Place, Material", examines the field's definitive shift since the late 1970s to regional, dynastic, and media based inquiries. The third day, "Confronting Modernity", addresses the extension of the field into the modern and contemporary periods, and emerging debates about their study.

October 16
Rainey Auditorium, Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
"Out of Late Antiquity"
Keynote: Alan Walmsley, U Copenhagen. Sessions: 1. The Relationship of Archaeology and Art at the Beginning of Islam. 2. Fatimid Art. 3. Messianism, Kingship and Sacred Cities in the Islamic World. Workshop: "On Qur'ans and Codicology"

October 17
Terrace Room, Claudia Cohen/Logan Hall
" 'Unity and Variety' Once More: Time, Place, Material,"
Keynote: Gülrü Necipoglu, Harvard. Sessions: 1. Women and Patronage. 2. Pushing the Boundaries of the Iranian World: Theme; Medium; Dynasty (ies); Place. 3. Unity in Diversity? Circulation, Stasis and the Canon. Workshop: "On Reading Urban Fabric"

October 18
Terrace Room, Claudia Cohen/Logan Hall
"Confronting Modernity"
Keynote: Glenn Lowry, Museum of Modern Art. Sessions: Museums, Exhibitions, and Collections in Historical Perspective. On Conservation and Cultural Policies. How to Study Contemporary Islamic Art and Architecture. Workshop: "On Iranian Cinema"

For full conference programme click here

For abstract and biographies click here

For related events check events website

Selected sessions will be published at the discretion of the organizers and session chairs. Check symposium website for news.

Registration fee:
Regular member $30
Students member $15
Non-member $40

Click here to download registration form.