The concept of Modern art implies a break with the tradition for a more personal interpretation of reality. Can this definition be applied to define today’s Islamic Art? Googling the phrase Modern Islamic Art shows interesting results. One of the museums of modern art explains its Islamic art collection by saying that artists from the Middle East “are not so much reinventing Islamic art as they are repurposing it so that it becomes more clearly a vehicle for personal expressi

It seems that Western art showed a variation in styles and movements in its history, while Islamic art remained rather stable. Nevertheless, each time and place in Islamic art history has its own signature, or style. People familiar with Islamic art are most likely able to distinguish, let us say, the art of Ottoman Turkey from the art of Islamic Spain. Those who practice Islamic arts or are just interested in it can see differences in Seljuk and Timurid art. Researches are a

In this article I am sharing my experience of visiting traditional stained glass workshops in Iran and Azerbaijan. I am not aware if this kind of craft is unique for the region I am writing about or it can be found in other Islamic countries. If you have more information than I do, could you possibly let me know. Window where small pieces of glass were joined together with some kind of binder firstly was a result of technological restriction – craftsmen did not know how to ma

In the middle of 13th century Mongols came to Eastern Iran. In 1256 they founded Ilkhanid dynasty that reigned in Iraq till 1340 and in Iran till 1353. In a field of art Mongol invasion brought Chinese influence to Islamic artistic tradition, Chinese way of floral motif depiction changed the face of Islamic art. But the period between the genesis of Islam and the Mongol invasion has a lot of interesting facts to observe. Great historian of Islamic art Oleg Grabar (1929-2011),

Stone decoration of Baku architecture is superb. It is here when ancient craft of stone carving serves Islamic art showing the great level of craftsmanship and an elegance of artistic expression. Baku is a capital of Azerbaijan, a land of fire, wind, stone, rich art tradition and beautiful people; a land where the “evidence of Zoroastrian, Sasanian, Arabic, Persian, Shirvani, Ottoman, and Russian presence in cultural continuity” [1]. Stone carving is a traditional craft of Ca

Islamic biomorphic patterns are usually called arabesques. The term ‘arabesque’ is relatively new; it came to Europe after Napoleon’s campaign in Africa. “In a broad sense of this term, the arabesque includes ornamentation in stylized plant forms and strictly geometrical interlacing work” [2]. Stylized plant forms represent the sense of rhyme which is a main characteristic of artistic expression in Islamic art along with a spirit of geometry [2] Islam was born in the world di

Hi, there! Here is just a little welcome from me. Let me share an insight of the origins of my love story with ornaments. I was a holder of degree in economics and an office worker when I saw a tv programme about Peru. The colours and the patterns on the clothes of Andean people, the beauty of Peruvian nature put the seeds of yearning in my mind and soul. I wanted to know why their cloth colours are so vivid and bright, and what was the reason of them putting this pattern on