Hallie Franks Lecture

NYU M.A. in Historical and Sustainable Architecture Open House Information Session for 2020-21 with Program Directors and Alumni

Silsila spring 2020 Lecture Series, Maghrib: Arts of the Islamic West “INSCRIBED IDENTITIES: CALLIGRAPHIC AND EPIGRAPHIC TRADITIONS OF THE MAGHRIB” Umberto Bongianino, University of Oxford

Pall for the tomb of a Moroccan sharīf, 18th century
Crimson and gold silk brocade, 222 x 168 cm
Paris, Musée du Quai Branly Jacques Chirac, Inv. 74.1961.5.1

Among the many cultural specificities of the Islamic West, the development of distinct calligraphic forms and epigraphic modes is one of the most striking and yet less studied cases. From the cemeteries of Tunis to the royal chancery of Marrakesh, from the libraries of Valencia to the madrasas and shrines of Fes, this lecture will consider how the aesthetic qualities of both manuscripts and inscribed artefacts mattered just as much as their content in the propagation of certain intellectual and ideological principles peculiar to the social context of these cities. Particularly fascinating is the sense of a distinct ‘Maghribi identity’ that emanates from these books, objects, and buildings, carrying texts which were carefully designed to express local doctrinal views and political ideals, yet in constant conversation with the visual culture of the wider Islamic world.

Umberto Bongianino is Departmental Lecturer in Islamic Art and Architecture at the Khalili Research Centre, University of Oxford. He is principally interested in the architecture and material culture of the Islamic dynasties that ruled across the medieval Mediterranean between the 9th and the 13th centuries. His studies have focused on a number of topics, including the Islamic components of Norman Sicilian art, ceramic production and trade in Fatimid Egypt and Syria, Fatimid architecture and archaeology in Cairo, Tunisia, and Libya (Ajdabiya), Arabic epigraphy and palaeography in the Medieval Maghrib and al-Andalus.

Date: Wednesday, February 5th
Time: 6:30-8:30pm
Location: 4 Washington Square North, 2nd floor

RSVP here: https://forms.gle/j1yHNDqjbLH1wj177
_{*Since space is limited, it is essential to RSVP. If for any reason you have rsvp’d and cannot attend, please use the RSVP form to let us know.} 

SILSILA Events

Silsila spring 2020 Lecture Series, “Maghrib: Arts of the Islamic West“ Jan 29th “THE LEGAL STATUS OF IMAGES IN AL-ANDALUS” Houari Touati, EHESS, Paris Feb 5th “INSCRIBED IDENTITIES: CALLIGRAPHIC AND EPIGRAPHIC TRADITIONS OF THE MAGHRIB” Umberto Bongianino, University of Oxford Feb 12th “THE CLUE TO MOROCCAN ART-ALMORAVID & ALMOHAD PERIPHERALITY” Abbey Stockstill, Southern Methodist University & Abigail Krasner Balbale, NYU Feb 19th “TEXTILES FROM AL-ANDALUS” Corinne Muehlemann, University of Bern & María Judith Feliciano Feb 27th “PAPER, MATERIALITY AND SCRIPTURAL TRADITIONS OF NORTHWEST AFRICA” Ghislaine Lydon, UCLA Mar 4th “MAGHRIBIS & MANUSCRIPTS IN OTTOMAN CAIRO” Paul Love, Al-Akhawayn University Mar 11th “THE MAKING OF ISLAMIC NORTH AFRICA: CONQUEST, CONVERSION AND CULTURAL CHANGE” Corisande Fenwick, University College London Mar 25th “BETWEEN PARADISE AND HELL: ALMOHAD PALATIAL ARCHITECTURE” Mehdi Ghouirgate, Bordeaux-Montaigne University Mar 31st “GOLD WORK: TECHNIQUES AND EXCHANGE ACROSS THE SAHARA” Sarah Guerin, University of Pennsylvania DATE TBA, Between April 1st and 15th “Title TBD” Kader Attia Additional Events Apr 7th “SULTAN RAZIYYA (1236-40) AND THE ACCOUNTS (HISAB) OF MEN” Sunil Kumar, University of Delhi Apr 10th WORKSHOP: THE MAQAMAT TRADITION AND THE PRE-MODERN ROOTS OF ARAB MODERNISM Finbarr Barry Flood, Silsila Saleem Al-Bahloly, UC Santa Barbara Anneka Lenssen, UC Berkeley Maurice A. Pomerantz, NYU Abu Dhabi Elizabeth Rauh, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Apr 30th “MEASURE AND MEANING-A CONVERSATION” Emanuele Lugli, Stanford University and Finbarr Barry Flood, NYU May 6th “MODERN THINGS ON TRIAL: ISLAM’S GLOBAL AND MATERIAL REFORM IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY” Leor Halevi, Vanderbilt University

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Roberto Burle Marx during a botanical expedition in Ecuador, 1974. Photograph by Luiz Knud Correia de Araújo, Archive of Luiz Antonio Correia de Araújo

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