Search results for ""Author Fahmida Suleman""

From the intricate embroidery on a Palestinian wedding dress to the complex iconography on an Afghan war rug, textiles reflect the beliefs, practices and experiences of people from across the Middle East and Central Asia. This book explores the significance and beauty of textiles from across this vast area, and is arranged thematically to enable cross-regional comparisons of the function and symbolic meaning of textiles. Each chapter relates to a facet or phase of a person’s life in which textiles feature prominently: childhood, marriage and ceremony, status and identity, religion and belief, and house and homestead. The book also includes contemporary works that grapple with modern political issues. The textiles featured include men’s, women’s and children’s garments, hats and headdresses, mosque curtains and prayer mats, floor coverings, tent hangings, hand towels and cushions, storage sacks, purses and cosmetic pouches, dolls and souvenirs, animal trappings and amulets. Focusing on the British Museum’s remarkable collection, this book offers a wealth of creative inspiration and will be essential reading for anyone interested in textiles and the cultures of the Middle East and Central Asia.

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Despite their distinct theological differences, Shi'a and Sunni Muslims, followers of the two main branches of Islam, share a number of core beliefs including an allegiance to and love for the Prophet Muhammad and members of his family. For Shi'a Muslims, reverence for the Prophet and allegiance to his household (Ahl al-bayt, 'People of the House'), comprising his immediate family and their descendants, constitutes an essential principle of belief that has directly impacted how Shi'i artists, rulers, patrons and ritual participants have conveyed their love and loyalty through material culture and religious ritual. The 22 essays in this volume, richly illustrated with over 200 coloured images, present a diversity of beliefs and practices expressed through the arts, architecture, material culture and ritual that spans Shi'i history from the tenth century to the present day. With contributions from experts in the fields of anthropology, religious studies, art and architectural history, numismatics, film studies and contemporary art, the book also calls attention to the global diversity of the artistic and devotional expressions ofShi'a Muslims from across Trinidad, Senegal, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, India and China. Additionally, some essays draw upon important female Shi'i figures and female ritual practices and many chapters underscore the theme oflove for the Ahl al-bayt beyond Sunni and Shi'i demarcations. This work contributes to a growing body of scholarship dedicated to the religious arts and rituals ofShi'a Muslims around the world.

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Interviews with women artists connected with the Islamic world and their compelling works that are shaping contemporary art today. Showcasing artworks that offer political and poetic commentary on many of today’s major global issues, Being and Belonging also features powerful and intimate interviews with 25 women artists from the Islamic world and beyond. Born and living in many different countries, the artists claim space and place as equal commentators on the world we live in today. Whether addressing domestic spaces, political displacement, war, discrimination, or gender and sexuality, these artists invite us to move away from easy and schematic representations of the world. The featured artists include Sama Alshaibi, Shahzia Sikander, Dilyara Kaipova, Lubaina Himid, Manal AlDowayan, Shirin Neshat, Mona Hatoum, and Tayeba Begum Lipi, and the works included in the book range from paintings, drawings, photography, and ceramics to mosaics, textiles, graffiti, animation, and video installations. Distributed for the Royal Ontario Museum Exhibition schedule Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto (July 1–November 19, 2023)

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This illustrated introduction offers a fresh approach to the history of the Islamic world from its origins to the present day. Told in six chapters, arranged both chronologically and thematically, and richly enhanced with outstanding images, it provides an illuminating insight into the material culture produced from West Africa to Southeast Asia through art and artefacts, people and places. From pre-Islamic works that provided a foundation for the arts of Islam to masterpieces produced under the great empires and objects that continue to be made today, this expansive survey traces the development of civilizations at the forefront of philosophical and scientific ideas, artistic and literary developments, and technological innovations, exploring a wealth of cultural treasures along the way. Texts are accompanied by a wide variety of objects, including architectural decoration, ceramics, jewellery, metalwork, calligraphy, textiles, musical instruments, coins, illustrated manuscripts, and modern and contemporary art, all of which shed new light on the Islamic world both past and present. This book will inspire and inform anyone interested in one of the most influential and diverse cultures of the world.

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