Reading Responses

Avinoam Shalem

1. Who was Edward Said? What does his term “Orientalism” connote?
   a. Edward Said was an art historian who wrote a seminal text in which the term “Orientalism” originates. Orientalism is a European lens which which to look at the “orient” or Asia. This lens reduces a diverse multitude of natures, cultures, and traditions into a monolithic, simplistic concept. This imagined “Orient” also freezes the continent as undeveloped in comparison to the West.
2. Can you think of another example of the “center” holding creative dominion over the “marginal” in Western art history (or history or culture)?
   a. In America, for much of its early, and I would argue current history, New York City has held as a center of artistic, economic, and cultural development. Much of the surrounding region looks to the city to find direction as opposed to NYC finding inspiration from small towns in New Jersey or upstate New York. As such, many aspiring creators and entrepreneurs move to NYC as ‘if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere’.
3. So what is the problem with the term “Islamic Art”?
   a. Islamic Art replicates the same issues as the term “Oriental” as it creates an idea of a homogenous ‘other’. Islamic Art neglects the variety of communities and artistic styles present through the Muslim world. It also forgets how Muslims created art, and lived in, western countries forging new modes of ‘Islamic Art’ which intermingles with western art.
4. Why is the “myth of the unity of Islamic Art” so harmful?
   a. The ‘unity of Islamic Art’ douses stylistic variation and ingenuity with the frigid idea of homogeny. It takes away the ability of Muslim artists to be independent, influenced, or to influence others.
5. How does the “myth of the unity of Islamic Art” or “a unified Islamic collective consciousness and identity (p. 11, 13) factor into the dismissal of the Hamline University professor we discussed in class on Wednesday?
   a. It may factor in as it highlights the ‘us’ and ‘them’ mindsets of understanding art history. To teach Islamic Art is to potentially forget the differences between different sects and communities within the Islamic world. Hamline University administrators may have seen this issue as untouchable/undebatable due to the label of “Islamic” which invokes the weight of a very large group of people.
6. What “Dangerous parameters” does Shalem numerate? You may just provide a bullet-point list.
   a. ‘Classical Art’
   b. ‘Renaissance’
   c. ‘Perspective’
   d. ‘Modernism’

Oleg Grabar

1. How might the inscriptions (and their changes) on the interior of the Dome of the Rock indicate political ambitions?
   a. The inscriptions on the inside of the Dome of the Rock mirror those at the Ka’ba in order to create more legitimacy for its existence as a major Islamic space within a historically Christian city.
2. In your own words, how might the visual effects created by the plan of the building (as discussed pp. 75-76) impact the intended meaning of the monument?
   a. The visual effects included in the Dome of the Rock work to reinforce a pre-determined experience of the space. By placing four exits opposite each other, the viewer will see directly through the building upon entering. Alternatively, the illusive, but powerful, sunlight shining into the building fills the space with a powerful glow that may be intended to evoke images of holiness.
3. How might the inscriptions take into consideration the non-Muslim inhabitants of Jerusalem?
   a. The vegetal inscriptions on the interior evoke images of Paradise which had been a major focus of Jerusalem within “the last decades of the seventh century” (116).

Mohammad Nassar

1. What is a guilloche (just google it)?
   a. “architectural ornamentation resembling braided or interlaced ribbons”
2. List the contexts in which the author lists the presence of grapes/grapevines (just generally, like “monastery” or “chape”…).
   a. East room mosaics – the apse on the southern wall
   b. Dome of the Rock
   c. the Bacchic Procession (Madaba Museum)
   d. Mount Nebo-Siyagha in the Memorial of Moses
   e. Mount Nebo-Mukhayyat the chapel of the Priest John
   f. Monastery of Wadi Afrit
   g. Ma῾in, in the apse of the Church of al-Dayr
   h. In the chancel of the North Church/Upper Sanctuary at Hesban
   i. the nave of the Jubaiha church in Amman
   j. the southern intercolumnar panel of the church of Bishop Isaiah
   k. the chapel at Qam
   l. the Aazor Church
   m. the Khirbat Asida church
   n. the Armenian Church at El-Maqerqesh
   o. the nave of St. Christopher at Qabr Hiram
3. What is a calyx?
   a. A calyx is the cup form of a flower.
4. Who do you think might have been responsible for these decorative motifs at Qusayr Amra, and why?
   a. I think that Christian artists may have been the designers responsible for the creation of these images because of the deep knowledge “traditional” motifs which sometimes came from Christian roots. I also think that because of how the Ka’ba was built by Christian artists.

Elizabeth Dospěl Williams

1. According to Williams, why is it so difficult to study early Islamic (Umayyad & Abbasid) textiles?
   a. It is difficult to study due to their general poor preservation which leaves little to study and makes it more difficult to date and attribute. There is also a lack of scholarship on early Islamic textiles which creates a void of information for those interested in researching. Additionally, many museum collections mis-label textiles as “Coptic” which takes them out of the category of “Islamic”.
2. Williams discusses the possibility of lower-status imitations of high-status textiles.

What are the characteristics of “high-status” textiles?
High-status textiles often included red-hued silks which created a red background on which there would have been an Arabic inscription and a medallion pattern.

What are the characteristics of the “imitations”?
Imitations were most often made out of wool. This use of material was cheaper than the high status material of silk, and also was not capable of being repeated through a mechanize loom. Instead, woolen “tapestry-woven” fabrics needed to be hand-made.

3. What limitations do the elite textiles (silk) present that the woolen textiles do not?
   a. Silk did not have the ability of being created on a mechanized loom, meaning each piece required greater craftsmanship and time to be made.
4. What were the functions of the fabrics in William’s discussion?
   a. Fabrics were used for a series of purposes, many to coat interiors with rich textures and colors. For example, textiles were used not only as rugs, but as wall hangings and curtains in archways between rooms.
5. What do textiles have in common with stucco décor in this time period?
   a. There is an overlap in the designs during this period as stucco designs which emulate the “repetition and ease of repeating the pattern”.