London Conf, March 2009
Conference Announcement:
“People of the Prophet’s House: Art, Architecture and Shi’ism in the Islamic World”
Co-sponsored by the British Museum and the Institute of Ismaili Studies
Date: Thursday 26 – Saturday 28 March 2009
Venue: The British Museum, BP Lecture Theatre, Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3DG
Programme:
“They said: Do you wonder at Allah’s bidding? The mercy of Allah and His blessings are on you, O People of the House (Ahl al-Bayt), surely He is Praised, Glorious.” Holy Qur’an (11:73)
The Arabic phrase ‘Ahl al-Bayt’ or ‘People of the House’ is mentioned twice in the Holy Qur’an and, in one instance, refers specifically to the family of the Prophet Muhammad. For Shi’a Muslims, the term refers to the Prophet’s daughter, Fatima, her husband, ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, who was the Prophet’s cousin and first Shi’i Imam (leader), their two sons, Imam Hasan and Imam Husayn, and subsequently to their descendants. Today, Shi’a Muslims reside predominantly in the Middle East with sizable minorities in South and Central Asia, making up 10% of the world’s culturally diverse Muslim population. Although, like all Muslims, the Shi’a have always been and remain ethnically, culturally and even religiously diverse, their shared beliefs and practices, which center on reverence for the Prophet and his descendants, have greatly impacted Muslim material culture.
Who are the Shi’a? Can we identify art, architecture and material culture that is inspired by Shi’i traditions from around the world and throughout history? These questions are explored in an intellectually stimulating and visually enthralling three-day international conference. Covering topics from shrine and mosque architecture, manuscript painting, and religious iconography, to ritual expressions and contemporary cinema, the papers also span a wide geographic area from West Africa and the Middle East to Southeast Asia and China.
Day 1: Thursday 26 March 2009
8:30-9:10 Registration and morning coffee
Session 1: Historical Contexts and Definitions and Opening Remarks
Chair: Azim Nanji, Stanford University
9:20 Shainool Jiwa, Institute of Ismaili Studies
Shi’ism: narratives, images, perspectives
10:00 Oleg Grabar, Institute for Advanced Study
Can we identify Shi’i features in art and architecture?
10:40 Oliver Leaman, University of Kentucky
Defining Shi’i art: problems and possibilities
11:20 Coffee Break
Session 2: The Holy Shrines of Iraq and Iran
Chair: Sheila S. Blair, Boston College
11:50 James W. Allan, University of Oxford
The Shi’i shrines of Iraq: history and architectural development
12:30 May Farhat, American University of Beirut
Mashhad under the early Safavid shahs
1:10 Lunch
Session 3: Patronage and Pilgrimage: Shi’i Shrines in Iran
Chair: Anna Contadini, SOAS, University of London
2:30 Sheila R. Canby, British Museum
The gifts of Shah ‘Abbas to Shi’i shrines
3:10 Melanie Michailidis, Carleton College
Pilgrims and patrons: Ziyarat under the Samanids and Bavandids
3:50 Afternoon Tea
Session 4: Patronage and Pilgrimage: Shi’i Shrines in Syria
Chair: Doris Behrens-Abouseif, SOAS, University of London
4:30 Yasser Tabbaa, King’s Academy
Architecture for piety: the Shi’i shrines of Syria
5:10 Stephennie Mulder, University of Texas
Shrines of the Prophet’s house: the role of the ‘Alid shrines in medieval Syria’s sacred landscape
5:50 Adieu
Day 2: Friday 27 March 2009
Session 1: Amulets, Divination and Iconography in Shi’i Contexts
Chair: Emilie Savage-Smith, University of Oxford
9:20 Massumeh Farhad, Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler
Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Between the past and the future: the Falnama (Book of Omens)
10:00 Christiane Gruber, Indiana University
The ‘restored’ Shi’i mushaf as divine guide?: the practice of fal-i Qur’an in the Safavid period
10:40 Venetia Porter, British Museum
Heroes, amulets and Shi’ism in modern Iran
11:20 Coffee Break
Session 2: Shi’i Inscriptions on Art and Architecture
Chair: Alexander H. Morton, SOAS, University of London
11:50 Sheila S. Blair, Boston College
Writing about faith: epigraphic evidence for the development of Shi’ism in Iran
12:30 Luke Treadwell, Ashmolean Museum
Shi’i inscriptions on Islamic coins
1:10 Lunch
Session 3: Iconography Beyond Shi’i Contexts
Chair: Oya Pancaroglu, Bogaziçi University
2:30 Zeynep Yurekli-Gorkay, University of Oxford
Icon, emblem, amulet, identity marker: the sword of ‘Ali and the Ottoman ghazis
2:50 Fahmida Suleman, Institute of Ismaili Studies
The ‘Hand of Fatima’, origins and significance
3:30 Afternoon Tea
Session 4: Ritual Expressions in Shi’i Contexts
Chair: Pedram Khosronejad, University of St. Andrews
4:00 Mara Leichtman, Michigan State University
The Africanization of ‘Ashura in Senegal
4:40 Nacim Pak-Shiraz, SOAS, University of London
Cinema as a reservoir for cultural memory
5:20 Rizwan Mawani, Institute of Ismaili Studies
Hanafi Shi’ism, Vaishnavite kingdoms and the Chirag Rawshan: traces of the ‘Alid legacy in China and Indonesia
6:00 Adieu
Day 3: Saturday 28 March 2009
Session 1: Fatimid Contexts
Chair: Farhad Daftary, Institute of Ismaili Studies
9:20 Jonathan Bloom, Boston College
Fatimid architecture and Shi’ism
10:00 Ruba Kana’an, York University
Between realm and resonance: ‘Fatimid style’ in Yemen and Oman
10:40 Nasser Rabbat, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Maqrizi and the Fatimids
11:20 Coffee Break
Session 2: Summaries and Conclusions
Chair: Andrew J. Newman, University of Edinburgh
11:50 Oleg Grabar and Oliver Leaman
12:30 Adieu
Registration Cost:
Full Rate: £55 (3 days), £25 (1 day)
Concession Rate (full-time students with valid ID, Seniors, and unwaged):
£25 (3 days), £10 (1 day)
As places are limited, please register early to avoid disappointment.
To register please contact Fahmida Suleman at fsuleman@iis.ac.uk or visit www.iis.ac.uk/artconference (under construction)
For the full programme accompanying the British Museum’s exhibition, “Shah ‘Abbas: The Remaking of Iran” (19 February – 14 June 2009),
visit:
http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/future_exhibitions/shah_abbas.aspx
_________________________________________________
Dr. Fahmida Suleman
Research Associate, Department of Academic Research and Publications The Institute of Ismaili Studies
210 Euston Road
London, NW1 2DA
United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7756 2723 (direct line)
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7756 2700 (switchboard)
Fax: +44 (0)20 7756 2740
Email: fsuleman@iis.ac.uk
- February 23, 2009
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