IIS Co-sponsors Conference on Art, Architecture and Shi‘ism

April 2009

IIS and the British Museum co-sponsored the conference, People of the Prophet’s House: Art, Architecture and Shi’ism in the Islamic World, which took place at the British Museum from 26th – 28th March 2009. The conference was associated with the exhibition Shah ‘Abbas: The Remaking of Iran.



Three scholars from the IIS, Dr Shainool Jiwa, Nacim Pak-Shiraz and Dr Fahmida Suleman gave papers at the conference, which the latter also organised. Dr Farhad Daftary chaired a session on Fatimid contexts.

The conference aimed to answer two key questions: Who are the Shi‘a and whether we can distinguish art and material culture as being inherently Shi‘i? Papers had a broad historical and geographical scope, from West Africa to Spain and the Middle East. The conference brought together international scholars, who presented a wide range of material including mosque and shrine architecture, iconography, manuscript painting, cinema and ritual. Subjects were explored using various methodologies from art history, history and social anthropology.
Professor Azim Nanji opened the conference with the idea that the British Museum’s preservation of Muslim artefacts from all over the world provides us with themes that transcend both history and their geographical provenance.


http://www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=110222


Ismailiworld - Be Unite
ismailiworld@gmail.com