Islamic Art Spots for the NEH/ALA Muslim Bookshelf D. Fairchild Ruggles University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
7 Islamic Art Spots, each approximately 8 minutes long Calligraphy Mosques and Religious Architecture The Arts of Trade and Travel Islamic Gardens Islamic Textiles Geometry The Arts of the Book and Miniature Painting How will Art Spots be useful in programming for reading/learning communities? Produced by Twin Cities Public Television for the National Endowment for the Humanities in collaboration with the American Library Association
10 th -c. Quran manuscript angular Kufic script with gold chapter heading Muslim Bookshelf: Pathways of Faith
■Greg Barker, Koran By Heart: One Chance to Remember (film) ■Ingrid Mattson, The Story of the Quran ■F.E. Peters, The Children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam ■Jonathan Brown, Muhammad: A Very Short Introduction
Great Mosque of Cordoba (Spain) Muslim Bookshelf: Pathways of Faith
Great Mosque of Cordoba (Spain) Muslim Bookshelf: Pathways of Faith
TRAVEL Islamic Art Spot “The Arts of Trade and Travel” ■Venetia Porter, The Art of Hajj ■Amin Maalouf, Leo Africanus ■Stewart Gordon, When Asia Was the World: Traveling Merchants, Scholars, Warriors, and Monks ■Amitav Ghosh, In an Antique Land Muslim Bookshelf: Connected Histories Astrolabe for determining direction
Pilgrim caravanTravel by boat Muslim Bookshelf: Connected Histories
Caravanserai for visiting merchants in Granada
Pilgrimage Trade in people (slaves) and goods Intellectual curiosity Muslim Bookshelf: Connected Histories
Champaign, IL Mosque Muslim Bookshelf: American Stories FAITH Islamic Art Spots “The Mosque” and “Calligraphy”
Muslim Bookshelf: Pathways of Faith & Connected Histories Cordoba Mosque (Spain) mihrab (prayer niche) Mosque of Djenné (Mali) Different types of mosques
Muslim Bookshelf: Pathways of Faith & Connected Histories Istanbul (Turkey) Yogyakarta (Indonesia) Different types of mosques
Muslim Bookshelf: Points of View Leila Ahmed, A Quiet Revolution: The Veil’s Resurgence Willow Wilson, Butterfly Mosque Fatima Mernissi, Dreams of Trespass
Muslim Bookshelf: Pathways of Faith The Quran and the Beauty of Calligraphy ■Greg Barker, Koran By Heart (film) ■Ingrid Mattson, The Story of the Quran
Ottoman sultan’s signature Persian calligraphy page Persian tile
Muslim Bookshelf: Pathways of Faith Islamic Art Spot: “The Arts of the Book and Miniature Painting” Gold-stamped Quran manuscript
SCIENCE Islamic Art Spot “Geometry” Muslim Bookshelf: Connected Histories
11 th -c. Arabian astrolabeMosque clocks in Sri Lanka
Muslim Bookshelf: Connected Histories ■Jim al-Khalili, The House of Wisdom: How Arabic Science Saved Ancient Knowledge and Gave Us the Renaissance ■Maria Menocal, Ornament of the World
Muslim Bookshelf: Pathways of Faith The Quran on qibla (orientation): “Wherever you come from turn towards the Holy Mosque: This in truth is from your Lord. God is not negligent of all you do. Whichever place you come from turn towards the Holy Mosque, and wherever you are, turn your faces towards it….”
Muslim Bookshelf: Connected Histories Ibn Battuta – world traveler in the 14 th century A longer excerpt from Ibn Battuta is included in Stewart Gordon, When Asia Was the World: Traveling Merchants, Scholars, Warriors, and Monks
Muslim Bookshelf: Connected Histories Ibn Battuta’s account of traveling from the Indian coast to China: “Their custom when travelling on that river is to disembark in the evening and pass the night in the villages on its banks, returning to the boat in the morning. We used to do this too. There was no Muslim on the boat except the man I had hired, and he used to drink wine with the infidels when we went ashore and annoy me with his brawling, which made things all the worse for me.”
Muslim Bookshelf: Pathways of Faith Islamic Art Spots: “Textiles” & “Calligraphy” Mecca: Textile-wrapped Kaaba, toward which prayer is oriented
Islamic Art Spot: “Gardens”
■Robert Gardner, Islamic Art: Mirror of the Invisible World (film) ■S. Blair and J. Bloom, Islamic Arts ■Venetia Porter, Art of Hajj
How will Art Spots be useful in programming for reading & learning communities?