Islamic Arts

I am so enjoying this course, (along with Astrobiology and Modern World History via Coursera) its not leaving me much time for the studio, but then its so cold and muddy out there that I am happy sitting inside reading and watching videos with some hand stitching on occasional evenings.

I thought I would start jotting down some good links here, for those who are interested.

For a virtual tour of a classic domed mosque complex in Istanbul go here.  Its is a fabulous website showing the Suleymaniye Complex, built between 1550-7.

And then we got to the Mughal art such as the Badshaahi Mosque in Lahore.  The style of the arches, the internal decoration… I don’t know why but I find it so utterly enthralling and beautiful.

Then we were directed to the sub-Saharan African style and I wondered about the fate of this mosque in Timbuktu, with regards to recent events there.

And for a truly beautiful Illuminated Manuscript take a look here. 

For me the artwork is the important part, not the religion, though of course there is a respect for the importance of this book to the Islamic Culture.  When I head to London in March / April I must go and see this for myself.

I'm always drawn to Mughal ornamentation and for another stunning page look at this image here, click on the image and you zoom in.

This is one of my favourite pages.  Reminds me of Elizabethan gardens and embroidery of the time.

Next week “Painting and figural representation in Islam”