Symposium: Islamic Art in Contemporary Context
What makes Islamic art Islamic?
What are the conceptual aspirations of Islamic art?
Is Islamic art transcultural, or is it culturally restricted?
These are just some of the many questions that will be addressed by the international conference Presenting “Islamic” Art in Contemporary Context, to be held in Amsterdam on 5 April 2011. This international gathering will bring together museum curators, art historians and cultural strategists to assess the relevance of “Islamic” art to a contemporary public.
The goal of the conference is to define the most meaningful ways for museums and galleries to present art of Islamic cultures to a contemporary audience.
Keynote speeches by Claus Peter Haase, Sheila R. Canby, Nada Shabout and Charlotte Huygens will cover relevant issues and a debate will discuss every aspect of the subject.
* re-examination of the term “Islamic art” and the shortcomings of such classification
* how the actions of academia and institutions reflect Western conceptions of the “Islamic” world
* the greater political and economic policies towards the cultures of “Islamic” nations
* the context and reception contemporary “Islamic” artists receive as social agents of a culture
This conference is highly topical and comes at a time when several major museums are re-evaluating their “Islamic” art collections. While its scope is international, special attention will be given to the Dutch context, in which “Islamic” art seems to have been largely absent from public view. The conference will take advantage of what is relatively unexplored territory in the Netherlands to suggest a fresh approach or a guideline to the study and presentation of “Islamic” art, based on international expertise and experience.
In the winter of 2010-2011, De Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam presented highlights of Islamic art from the Khalili collections.
Venue
Oude Lutherse Kerk
Singel 411, Amsterdam
Global Art History /
