Ernst Herzfeld Society

For Studies in Islamic Art and Archaeology

Global Displays of Islamic Art Today – Virtual Panel & Discussion

Global Displays of Islamic Art Today: Agency, Identity, and Politics
Virtual Panel & Discussion sponsored by the Islamic Art and Material Culture Collaborative (IAMCC), Toronto
February 12th, 2022, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm (EST, Toronto)

Since the early 2000s, numerous museums around the world have reinstalled their collections of Islamic art as new galleries or created entire museums focusing on the arts and cultures of the Islamic world. During the same period, methodological interventions building on post-structuralist and post-colonial theory have begun to challenge long-standing formal and regional categories defining the field of Islamic art history and have impacted the display strategies of new displays of Islamic art. As a central interface between the academic study of the Middle East, its global representation, and the general public, the approaches these museums adopt to mediate between art, material culture, and Islamic or regional cultures play a central role in shaping discussions about the region. At the same time, Islamic art displays are also embedded in heterogeneous local politics and social discourses that serve local, regional or national agendas.

Through a series of case studies from both public and private museums in Turkey, Qatar, France, Spain, Canada and Iran, this panel of international doctoral candidates examines curatorial practice and agency vis-à-vis the politics of museum display and art discourses from 2000 until today. Rather than interpreting Islamic art displays as passive and neutral representations of the past, this panel theorizes them as a contemporary cultural practice that stages spatialized and immersive, ideological narrations of culture and identity. The papers examine new and complex ways in which museums and galleries of Islamic art use objects today to communicate broader ideas and narratives in various global contexts.

Register for free here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/global-displays-of-islamic-art-today-agency-identity-and-politics-tickets-247387612007



Schedule:

10:00 – Welcome and Introductions

10:05 – 10:20 — Objects Between Secularism and the Sacred at Istanbul’s Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art

Beyza Uzun, Doctoral Candidate, IMT School for Advanced Studies, Lucca, Italy

10:20 – 10:35 — The Cultural Diplomacy and Contested Modernity of Museological Development in Qatar

Abdelrahman Kamel, Doctoral Candidate, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada

10:35 – 10:50 — Displaying the Transcultural History of Objects: Shaping a French Islamic Heritage?

Constance Jame, Doctoral Candidate, University of Heidelberg, Germany

10:50 – 11:05 – Short Break

11:05 – 11:20 — Configuring Multiculturalism: Heritage and Narrative at Toronto’s Aga Khan Museum and Granada’s Museo de la Alhambra

Philip Geisler, Doctoral Candidate, Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz (Max-Planck-Institut), Italy & Berlin Graduate School Muslim Cultures and Societies, Germany

11:20 – 11:35 — Political Dynamics of Curation and Waqf: The Malek National Library and Museum

Leila Moslemi Mehni, Doctoral Candidate, University of Toronto, Canada

11:35 – 12:00 – Audience Q&A and Discussion

The panel will be chaired by Dr. Fahmida Suleman, Curator of the Islamic World collections at the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, and co-chair of the IAMCC.

About the IAMCC: The Islamic Art and Material Culture Collaborative (IAMCC), is a research network based in Toronto that brings together the capacities and resources of the University of Toronto (UofT), the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), and the Aga Khan Museum (AKM).

About the IIS: The Institute of Islamic Studies (IIS) at the University of Toronto offers a unique, multi-perspective view of Canadian society through the advanced study of Islam and Muslims.

Call for Papers: Deutscher Orientalistentag (Sept. 12th – 19th, 2022)

The Deutscher Orientalistentag 2022 will take place at the Freie Universität Berlin. Between 12th and 17th September, German and international researchers will examine a broad variety of topics in the form of lectures and discussion groups. We cordially invite both established and up-and-coming researchers of Islamic art history and archaeology, material culture and museum studiees to register a contribution!

Deadline for abstract submission: December 31st, 2021

Further information…

Job Announcement

The Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main invites applications for the following position as civil servant or public employee starting at the earliest possible date:

Professorship (W1 with Tenure Track) for Islamic Archaeology and Art History.

The initial tenure track appointment as Assistant Professor civil servant is for six years (§ 64 of the Higher Education Act of the State of Hessen (HHG)). Upon positive evaluation, the incumbent will be promoted to a permanent position at a higher level (W2). According to § 64 (3) HHG candidates should not have obtained their PhD at Goethe University Frankfurt or should have worked as a researcher at an external institution for at least two years after their PhD. The doctorate should not date back to more than four years.

Further information…

Application Deadline: Dec. 10th 2021

L’ORIENT INATTENDU, DU RHIN À L’INDUS – Exhibition

September 18th 2021 – January 16th 2022
Strasbourg, Bibliothèque Nationale et Universitaire Strasbourg

On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the National Library and the University of Strasbourg, the exhibition “L’Orient Inattendu, Du Rhin À L’Indus” (The unexpected Orient, from the Rhine to the Indus) offers a new look on the history of Strasbourg, Alsace and the Rhine region from the perspective of their relations with the Orient and more specifically the lands of Islam. It aims to present an overview of these relations from the medieval period up to the 20th century, through works that are mostly unknown or even unpublished.

An event in partnership with the Museums of Strasbourg and the Louvre Museum.

Further information…

Job Announcement

Im Museum für Islamische Kunst der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz ist zum nächstmöglichen Zeitpunkt die Stelle einer/eines Wissenschaftlichen Mitarbeiterin/Mitarbeiters (w/m/d) bis 10. März 2022 für 39h/Woche und anschließend mit 19,5h/Woche zu besetzen. Hier weiterlesen…

Application Deadline: October 15th, 2021

Ernst Herzfeld Award for Master Theses in Islamic Art History and Archaeology – Call for Applications

Deadline November 15, 2021

The Ernst Herzfeld-Gesellschaft für Islamische Kunst und Archäologie | Ernst Herzfeld Society for Studies in Islamic Art and Archaeology is pleased to announce the second edition of the Ernst Herzfeld Award for Master Theses in Islamic Art History and Archaeology. The aim of the award is to encourage and support young scholars in Europe who are working on visual and material culture of Islamic countries in the fields of Art History, Archaeology, and Building Archaeology (Bauforschung). The Ernst Herzfeld Award highlights the diversity and innovation of current research in these growing fields. The successful candidate is honored at the annual colloquium of the Ernst Herzfeld Society, offered a full travel grant to present their master thesis at the colloquium, and is granted publication of the presented paper in the series of the Society, Beiträge zur Islamischen Kunst und Archäologie (BIKA).

Eligibility:

  • Outstanding master thesis (MA, Master, M.phil., and similar) on a topic situated within the research fields of History of Islamic Art and Architecture, Islamic Archaeology, or Building Archaeology (Bauforschung) on Islamic Architecture.
  • The thesis must have been written an supervised at a European university. For this call, theses are eligible that were fully reviewed and marked in the timeframe between January 1, 2019 and October 31, 2021.
  • Accepted languages of the thesis are: German, English, French, Italian, and Spanish.

Application procedure:

  • Applicants are proposed by the supervisor of the MA thesis.
  • Applications include 1) the complete MA thesis as a PDF document and as it was submitted; 2) a summary in English (3 pages); 3) a letter of recommendation in English by the proposing supervisor; and 4) the original official review/evaluation of the thesis for/by the university, at which it was submitted.

Review Procedure:

  • The review procedure is jointly organized by the award and steering committees and the advisory board of the Ernst Herzfeld Society.
  • Proposing supervisors are excluded from the review procedure and the peer-review.
  • Applications fulfilling the criteria of eligibility will go through a double blind peer-review by the joint committees and by external reviewers.

Submission:

Please send the complete application by November 15, 2021 to award@ernst-herzfeld-gesellschaft.com

Notification:

Applicants will be notified about the outcome of the evaluation process by March 15, 2022.

Ernst Herzfeld Award 2020/21 for a Master Thesis in Islamic Art History and Archaeology

The Society is congratulating the winner of the 2020/21 Ernst Herzfeld Award for an excellent master thesis in the fields of Art History, Archaeology, and Historical Building Research in Islamic countries: Franziska Schneider, Rediscovering the Local Heritage – Zeyneb Sultan Mosque and the Chalkoprateia Church in Constantinople (Freie Universität Berlin, 2019), see here