Islamic Art

This book is a fully-illustrated catalogue of the Islamic chess and other games pieces in The al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait. It focusses on the development of the shapes of chess pieces from their earliest figural appearance to the fully abstract forms developed in the medieval Islamic world. An additional section presents a survey of medieval Islamic chessmen from museums and private collections worldwide.

Our recent discoveries are now fully accepted by most of the specialists of Islamic art and the Africanist archaeologists. Our archaeological investigations in Mayotte allowed us to understand the raison d’être of an early Islamic site in the western Indian Ocean. Dembeni was occupied between the ninth to the twelfth century, a period of intensive trad, first with the Abbasid caliphate in Iraq/Iran, then with the Fatimid caliphate in Egypt. Dembeni appears to be a major distribution centre for rock crystal in the Indian Ocean. The fragments of rock crystal discovered in Mayotte were imported from Madagascar. The rock crystal was exported from Madagascar to the Comoros together with other products, notably steatite (soapstone).

An important outcome of our research was to put the Comoros and Madagascar in the “big picture” of East African trade, as rock crystal was a much-valued product. This “Eastern” or Malagasy road could serve as an explanation for the urbanization of Kilwa, the biggest and most well-known city-state of the East African coast. The city state of Kilwa has always been interpreted in relation to the gold trade with Sofala and the gold mines in Zimbabwe. But Kilwa is also located at a major crossroads between the East African coast and the Comoros. I would argue that the development and urbanization of Kilwa was due to this key position at the crossroads, between gold and rock crystal mines, the two most valued products of the Abbasid and Fatimid caliphates.

‘[A] valid concept of “Islam” must denote and connote all possible “Islams,” whether abstract or “real,” mental or social’ (104)... Ahmed seeks to avoid two major pitfalls: (1) making Islam into a static essence or a category within an essentialist framework – such as proscription/prescription, ‘religion’,‘civilization’, ‘culture’, ‘orthodoxy’, etc., and (2) rendering Islam into a totally incoherent concept by conceding that there are as many islams as there are communities or individuals. Ahmed’s thesis (presented in Chapter 5) is that Islam is best conceptualized as a process of meaning-making or hermeneutical engagement in which the human agent engages with the Divine Revelation granted to Muhammad in one or more of this Revelation’s hierarchical dimensions – Pre-Text, Text, and Con-Text – in order to constitute meaning for himself."

With their rich pictorial content, the illustrated manuscripts have been of high interest for the scholars and researchers of art history. An Ottoman- Turkish illustrated manuscript, Süleymanname is an official history book produced in the Ottoman Court in the 16th century that documents and depicts the events during the reign of Süleyman I. The pictorial content of these manuscripts is studied as a painting from an art history point of view where they are referred as miniature paintings. There is a need to study the images from a graphic design and illustration point of view. This paper investigates the making of the images in the manuscript as an illustration by graphically analyzing the illustrated pages of Süleymanname. Particularly, the paper presents an analysis on how the natural and the architectural elements are represented in the pictorial plane to create the main space of the illustration.

https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo17703325.html

Hundreds of exceptional cartographic images are scattered throughout medieval and early modern Arabic, Persian, and Turkish manuscript collections. The plethora of copies created around the Islamic world over the course of eight centuries testifies to the enduring importance of these medieval visions for the Muslim cartographic imagination. With Medieval Islamic Maps, historian Karen C. Pinto brings us the first in-depth exploration of medieval Islamic cartography from the mid-tenth to the nineteenth century.

Pinto focuses on the distinct tradition of maps known collectively as the Book of Roads and Kingdoms (Kitab al-Masalik wa al-Mamalik, or KMMS), examining them from three distinct angles—iconography, context, and patronage. She untangles the history of the KMMS maps, traces their inception and evolution, and analyzes them to reveal the identities of their creators, painters, and patrons, as well as the vivid realities of the social and physical world they depicted.  In doing so, Pinto develops innovative techniques for approaching the visual record of Islamic history, explores how medieval Muslims perceived themselves and their world, and brings Middle Eastern maps into the forefront of the study of the history of cartography.

This document provides the full text, there are only very few  image changes to the printed version. 

Contributions by

KONSTANTINOS CHATZIANTONIOU
JOACHIM GIERLICHS
FRANAK HILLOOWALA
KATHRYN KALEMKERIAN
SABA AL KUWARI
LISA MALCOM
JULES MCDEVITT
SHEIKHA AL NASSER
SUSAN REES
MICHELLE WALTON

The tughra (insignia) has a characteristic form, therefore there is no big difference in terms of its calligraphic composition. Calligraphers drew tughras in the frame of the rules set by the noted calligrapher Râkim. Although no official records state that Şefik Bey was assigned as a tughrakash (or nişancı, a person who draws tughras), it is intriguing to observe that Şefik Bey drew tughras on behalf of the sultan.
In many foundation works that belong to the sultans, it can be observed that the inscriptions and the tughras were written and drawn by different calligraphers. The tughra could only be drawn by certain calligraphers with official permission. However, resources reveal that despite not holding a nişancı title, Şefik Bey still drew tughras on the behalf of the sultan. 
Abdülfettah Efendi, a contemporary of Şefik Bey, was known to be a tughrakash who produced the tughras of that era, but the fact that Şefik Bey drew the sultan's insignia at the same period may suggest that he was granted special permission for a short period of time. 
To our knowledge, four tughras carry Şefik Bey’s signature.  The first one is the tughra of Sultan Murad V and is located in Topkapı Palace, the second one is the tughra of Sultan Abdülmecid and is on the entrance gate of Dolmabahçe Palace, the third tughra is on the entrance gate of Teşvikiye Mosque, and the fourth tughra is on the fountain of Hacı Küçük Mosque in Sultanhamam. This study aims to investigate the unknown aspect of Şefik Bey as a tughrakash and whether or not he had the permission to officially draw tughras which are not mentioned in written resources.

A short monograph on a previously unrecorded Maghribi astrolabe by al-Battuti that is now part of the collections of the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum. The description of the astrolabe was made by Prof. David King and the text was written by Laure Soustiel. The publication was commissioned by Pierre-Guilhem Métayer.

Madinat al-Zahra is today one of the most important archaeological sites of the Islamic culture in the west Mediterranean region. In 2018 the site was designated a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO. A five-year project which is conducted by the German Archaeological Institute and the Junta de Andalucía in cooperation with the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid is dedicated to the investigation of the Plaza de Armas of Madīnat az-Zahrāʾ, the main public square of the caliphal city. The aim of the second season of field work was the investigation of the eastern side of the plaza, an area previously untouched by excavations. The excavation work revealed the remains of an isolated pavilion which stood on top of a high platform. The T-shaped layout of the pavilion is reminiscent of Sasanian and Abbasid reception halls (maglis al-Hiri). The pavilion is the first example of this type to be found west of Tunisia, and sheds new light on the influence of Abbasid architecture on the design of Madinat al-Zahra.

Susa is a city in Khuzestan located in the Southwest of Iran. This city was the capital of ancient Elam and then became the capital of the Achaemenian dynasty afterward. One of the significances of Susa in this period , is that it has being the beginning of the Royal Road, the one that led Iran to Aegean sea. Susa hill has been one of the most important issues for researcher and archaeologists and continued excavations in the area from 1850 up to the present show its importance. Susa potteries have clarified this area's ambiguous culture and civilization since around the fifth millennium BC and continued their life despite the restless history of the Susa city. The arrival of Islam introduced a new era in Susa pottery, and the new forms and decorative designs revived the pottery of this city. Despite its increasing popularity at the time, Islamic Susa pottery has been almost completely ignored by authors and researchers and rarely remarked upon by most Islamic sources. Susa pott...

In the spring of 1976, the World of Islam Festival opened in London, celebrated by royalty and diplomats from around the world. For three months, the city of London was filled with different exhibitions, performances, and lectures about the historical Islamic past in order to inspire Muslim-Christian unity in then present-day Britain. Archival documents, which have not yet been examined or cited in the existing literature, reveal that the authority to present Islam was held in the hands of former diplomats, and other private interests. The event was funded by what organizers called "Moslim governments" in conjunction with the British government, and other private investors. Although the festival had educational intentions, it was met with mixed reception, including intense criticism from Christian Evangelicals who saw the event as proselytizing Islam, and from British Muslims, who felt unrepresented. An event that was designed to promote unity ultimately created more divisions.
Utilizing the decolonial methodologies of Walter Mignolo and archival documents from the festival organizers, this paper examines how representations of a timeless, historic Middle East were crafted at the World of Islam Festival. This paper has several interrelated aims. First, utilizing archival material, it highlights what sorts of representations the organizers crafted and how, specifically using history and religion for contemporary goals. Specifically, what was the relationship between the organizers and Islam, and from where did they attempt to derive their authority? Second, this paper highlights how the World of Islam Festival was received by the public. Third, it considers how smaller galleries at this time, such as the Mathaf Gallery and the Long Gallery, both in London, presented contemporary art from the Arab World, a topic notably absent from the World of Islam Festival. This paper promotes further questions about how historical Islamic objects are currently used to "represent" the Middle East and for what purpose.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how visual aesthetic referents used in branding can help foster a transnational imagined community (TIC). The authors use brands embedded with Middle Eastern visual aesthetics as a research context. As such, the study aims to examine how Middle Eastern non-figurative art is used by non-Middle Eastern brands to foster an imagined Middle Easternness. Design/methodology/approach – Through a critical visual analysis, the authors apply a visual social semiotic approach to Middle Eastern art canons to better understand the dimensions of transnational imagined communities. Findings – The study finds and discusses six sub-dimensions of Middle Easternness, which compose two overarching dimensions of TIC, namely, temporal and spatial. These sub-dimensions provide brand managers and designers with six different ways to foster transnational imagined communities through the use of visual aesthetic referents in branding. Research limitations/i...

NB: by "chicanery," I refer to Morocco's record of corruption and lack of oversight and enforcement of its laws, which could use reinforcement.

On nearly the eve of hosting the twenty second Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 22) in Marrakesh on November 7-18, 2016, the Moroccan government authorized a new group of constructions in the Bou Regreg River Valley. The constructions include a Zaha Hadid Ateliers designed theater, the Grand Théâtre de Rabat, in addition to luxury hotels, residences, a museum, and a park. The theater and park will join the Aga Khan award winning Zaha Hadid Ateliers Bridge to Salé, a city across the river and just north of the worksite. Signs around the construction state that the complex will add to the appeal of Rabat as a city of culture. The buildings are placed in what might be considered a floodplain with the same or similar characteristics of nearby Northern Moroccan Ramsar designated wetlands and classified National Parks and Reserves, some of the former of which are on the tentative list for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Status. The Zaha Hadid Ateliers construction is also placed in close proximity to sites with significant historical and cultural value recognized in the UNESCO classification documents for Rabat, among others. 

In the following paper, I present briefly the socio-environmental histories of the construction and adjacent sites in the Rabat-Salé-Zemmour-Zaër region and propose how accentuating certain aspects of the environment can be valuable additions to the contemporary Moroccan economy, specifically its two pillars of tourism and agricultural production and exports.

IASTE 2016 Online Program Poster: http://iaste.berkeley.edu/iaste/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/2016/05/IASTE2016_Poster.pdf

As an historian of Islamic art in the Department of Art History at the Maryland Institute College of Art, I am continually learning as I endeavor to teach my students about pattern. Teaching about pattern in Islamic art has facilitated my own exploration of geometry in ways that also benefits my students. This visual presentation explores the results of a single assignment that pertains to coloring a linear plate reproduced in Bourgoin’s classic work, Arabic Geometrical Pattern and Design.

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*Die Schönsten Deutschen Bücher 2020 (The Most Beautiful German Books 2020)*

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Conceptual artist He Xiangyu has developed projects that take as their subject the goods and products that symbolize the mass production and consumption of the world while evoking the state of contemporary Chinese society. For his Coca-Cola Project, (2009 – 2012), the artist spent over a year simmering down a 127-ton batch of Coca- Cola, and transformed the black, charcoal-like substance that was extracted from this process into an apocalyptic installation. The Lemon Project, started in 2016, turns towards the practice of scientific research to produce an encyclopedic collection of the multitude of meanings and functions of lemons and the color yellow, leading him to immerse himself in the abyss of historical, psychological, medical, and cultural meanings associated with the color yellow. The book in a Japanese binding includes essays on the color yellow. On the inside of the uncut pages are more than 500 of He Xiangyu`s drawings entitled “Research on Yellow.”

Imaging  technologies  are  transforming  the  study  and  presentation  of  artefacts.  The  contributors  to  this  volume  are  at  the  vanguard  of  applying  developing  technologies  to  cultural  heritage,  and  their  chapters  discuss  ways  in  which  various  techniques  are  being  used  for  research,  digital  cataloguing,  and  public  engagement.  Eight  chapters  highlight  diverse  methods  in  imaging  and  presentation  (e.g.  photogrammetry,  multispectral  and  hyperspectral  imaging,  structure-from-light,  digital  microscopy,  3D  printing,  and  virtual  and  augmented  reality)  applied  to  objects  of  differing  forms,  size,  media  and  cultural  origin,  including  standing  stones  in  pre-Columbian  Nicaragua,  Egyptian  and  Roman  sculpture,  Mesopotamian  cylinder  seals,  and  rock  crystal  vessels  made  in  the  early  medieval  Islamic  world.  Aimed  at  contributing  to  knowledge-transfer  between  sciences,  humanities,  and  cultural  heritage  professionals,  this  volume  offers  updated,  accessible  accounts  of  digital  imaging  of  objects  for  general  and  specialist  audiences.

Stucco decorations are among the major decorative elements of the religious structures of the Ilkhanid period in Iran.Typical examples of these decorations are found in the mausoleum of Pir-i Bakran, located some” 30 km” southwestof Isfahan. Owing to the importance of the decorative technique and its great stucco decorations, several contemporaryIslamic scholars have described the mausoleum as a real museum of the stucco art; therefore, it can be a subject forseveral, related scientific studies.The present paper aims at exploring the structure and themes of the stucco decorations of this building to demonstrate thatreligious ideas substantially inspired the origination and style of these ornaments in religious constructions, in particularmausoleums.A descriptive method was adopted in the present study, which builds on library-based research and field observations.Accordingly, proper photos were taken from the decorations and architectural spaces before linear drawings of thedecorati...

Mystical Literature is strong link between Iranian culture and art and has led to consolidation of various arts such as architecture. To understand the identity of Iranian and Islamic architecture should recognize the value of its effective and investigated.Sufism and mysticism during the Ilkhanid and Timurid was Spread and one feature Islamic society, especially in Iran in this period. This leads to the expansion of mystical literature. . The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between mystical literature as a factor for influence of Sufism and the Islamic architecture. The research has an sociological of art and based on reflect theory. Research explored historical documents and resources to investigate the features of mystical literature and sociological context of its development during this period. Then the impact of the mystical literature in architectural education, messaging of architecture, and architectural features expressed in mystical poems was analyzed. This study showed that mystical literature influence on architecture by Futuwwat-nāme brotherhoods (craftsmen chivalry letters), inscriptions themed of buildings and architecture as a metaphor for God's Mention.
ادبیات عرفانی حلقه پیوند محکمی است که فرهنگ و هنر ایران را به یکدیگر متصل کرده و موجب انسجام هنرهای مختلف همچون معماری گشته است. برای درک هویت ایرانی و اسلامی معماری ایران می بایست ارزش های تاثیرگذار بر آن را شناسایی نمود و نوع این تاثیرگذاری را بررسی کرد. با توجه به این که معماری، هنری بازتاب دهنده ارزش ها و اعتقادادت جامعه است و عرفان را می توان ارزشی موثر در جامعه دوره ایلخانی و تیموری دانست، هدف از این تحقیق بررسی ارتباط ادبیات عرفانی به عنوان عامل نفوذ ارزش های عرفانی، با معماری است. محقق با روش کیفی و از طریق بررسی منابع تاریخی، ابتدا ویژگی های ادبیات عرفانی و علت رواج آن در دوره مغول را بیان کرده و سپس ارتباط ادبیات عرفانی با معماری این دوره را در تاثیر بر نحوه آموزش، نقش کتیبه بر معماری و رواج مفاهیم بنیادین در معماری می داند.

Figurative art in Islamic context. Not all figurative art is prohibited in all Islamic contexts. What is and what is not allowed as subject matter in art depends on a number of factors. This paper closes with an analysis of the figurative art at the desert castle of Qusair Amra.

The art and architecture of the Islamic world had a decisive impact on the development of decorative and fine arts from 1880 to 1945. Many leading artists and architects took inspiration from the rich Islamic language of forms and ornamentation. They were fascinated by the mathematical principles and unusual harmonies of colors in Persian miniatures and rugs, stained glass windows or Iznik tiles, and punched metal works and ceramics from the Near East, North Africa and Moorish Spain. While only some of them actually visited the Islamic world and studied its art and architecture in situ, many discovered it through exhibitions and publications. Following on from Paris (1893/1903), Stockholm (1897) and Algiers (1905), Munich set new standards in 1910 with the exhibition “Meisterwerke muhammedanischer Kunst” (“Masterpieces of Muhammadan Art”). Museums, art dealers and private collectors from a number of countries contributed some 3,600 works, including valuable carpets, ceramics, metalwork pieces and Persian miniatures. The exhibition marked a turning point not only for the academic studies of the time, but also in terms of the reception of Islamic arts. In the Western fine and decorative arts of the 19th century, the “Orient” conjured up motivic imagery heavily influenced by the colonialist perspective, whereas the artists of early Modernism investigated Islam’s stylistic devices in depth, transposing them to their own environment through a process of artistic internalization. In combination with their own traditions and their respective times, it was this very internalisation that instilled motivating creative processes, out of which artists developed countless new forms of expression.

The contributions in this volume approach these questions from different perspectives, considering theoretical and practical applications developed by western artists, architects and decorators and how Islamic art was considered as a model for the renewal of European arts at the turn of the twentieth century.

Arthur Pope was one of the greatest scholars who introduced Persian culture and architecture to the world. This study aims to study the writing of Arthur Pope in his famous book entitled "A Survey of Persian Art". This book is one of the most important encyclopedias of Persian art before and after Islam and the most detailed and authoritative reference book on the history of Iranian art. This book is the richest resource of Persian art with the illustrations in which it has been published. In 1926, Pope began writing A Survey of Persian Art for the first time, after the first congress in Philadelphia, shortly after his return to the United States. In his research, he introduced any building using an image; Like the method that archaeologists use to present the results of their excavations. Pope's view of the history of Persian architectural art is positivist, influenced by the teachings of Kant's philosophy and the modern view of history. Relying on different types of resources, focusing on political and diplomatic history, this approach deals with the classification of documents, and with an empirical perspective, pays attention to objective spaces. The results indicated that the sub-criteria of Persian art that according to Pope, are effective in regulating the spatial system of Iranian architecture are: continuity, abstraction, symbolism, clarity and accuracy, social and traditional character of Iranian art history and the relationship and impact of Persian architecture and other civilizations and their influence on each other.

This study proposes a re-examination of twenty Ilkhanid (1256-1335) monuments with stucco repertoires. They retain signatures of stucco craftsmen and are mainly in Arabic and, at times, Persian. These monuments are located in Iran and neighbouring territories. The research comprises artistic and historical examination of these signatures. Its aim is to provide new information about identity, profession and mobility of craftsmen, as well as stucco workshop composition. The analysis attempts to surpass traditional examinations of craftsmen signatures, which were mainly concerned with their semantic meaning, the location on the stucco revetments, and, in particular, the identification of craftsmen and their mobility based on the nisbas in their signatures. To this aim, the study suggests that both the signature and its support, which is the stucco revetment, need to be considered as one: the trace and signature of the craftsmen. These findings are valuable for a better understanding of stucco production, the society of artists and patrons commissioning the Ilkhanid monuments and their decorative repertoires. The consideration of stucco artistic techniques, the detailed examination of repertoires and their respective signatures, therefore present valuable sources to the identity, mobility and task division of the stucco craftsmen. The relationship between signatures of craftsmen and patrons are also considered: they provide information on the links between patrons and the material culture they sponsored. The paper begins by examining a larger corpus of Ilkhanid craftsmen signatures (comprising names, surnames and verbs denoting their type of activity) in wood, lustre tiles, stone and stucco medium. Double signatures, such as those of heads of workshop and calligraphers, or architects and builders, prove especially informative on the use of different verbs to denote different artistic or architectural activities. This examination provides an insight into the differences between signatures in different media, which reflect the artistic techniques and role of calligraphers in inscription design, which is important for wall paintings, lustre tiles and wooden inscriptions. Stucco craftsmen signatures, due to the different design process and production methods, generally reflect the signatures of the heads of workshops-master craftsmen. The research combines the examination of signatures by investigating the different artistic techniques employed by the craftsmen. It tries to discern a link between signatures of workshops and artistic technique knowledge: a skill repository that migrated with them. The findings propose that stucco masters signed their works and their repeating signatures (cases of Bistam, Natanz, Turbat-i Jam, Ushturjan) reflected the use of the same artistic techniques and designs for stucco revetments. Differently from wall paintings, wooden and ceramic media, stuccos do not seem to have been signed by calligraphy experts, who helped design inscriptions. This is most likely because stucco craftsmen possessed this knowledge or because calligraphers only designed small sketches for stuccos. Stucco craftsmen mobility can thus be understood as long-distance (Turbat-i Jam-Natanz-Ushturjan; Sultaniyya-Ushturjan-Linjan-Na'in-Yazd-Abarquh; Iran-Azerbaijan-Pirsaat river) and short-distance (Bistam-Damghan; Haftshuya-Garladan-Linjan; Qurva-Sultaniyya). Furthermore, in some cases there appears to be links between patrons and craftsmen who were engaged on commissions (Na'in): they were sometimes from the same areas or settlements.

هنر پیکره تراشی و خاصه پیکره‌های انسانی که در دوران پس از اسلام مورد احتیاط قرار گرفته بود-اگر نگوییم دچار حرمان شده بود- در دوران سلجوقیان مورد توجه واقع شده و پیکره‌های انسانی با موضوعات مختلف ساخته شدند.
از جمله این پیکره‌ها که احتمالاً ساخته‌ی کاشان است، پیکره مردی‌ست که به حالت دوزانو روی زمین نشسته و کلاهی بر سر دارد که نام سلطان طغرل و تاریخ 538 هـ. ق. بر روی آن مرقوم شده است. در صورتی که در سال مذکور هیچکدام از سه سلطان طغرل سلجوقی حکومت نمی‌کردند. از طرفی پیکره مورد بحث از سوی برخی کارشناسان به عنوان مهره شطرنج به مخاطبان معرفی شده است.
هدف این مقاله تبیین کارکرد و دلیل شکل گیری پیکره مذکور و در پی آن اشتباه زدایی از اثری ایرانی است که دگرگونه به جهانیان معرفی شده است. سؤال اصلی مقاله چیستی مفهوم پیکره بوده و سعی بر آن است تا با استفاده از روش آیکونوگرافی و توجه به متون مکتوب و یافتن معنای ثانویه تصاویر، به سؤال مقاله پاسخ داده شود.
نتیجه مقاله نشان می‌دهد که نشانگان موجود در پیکره هیچ‌گونه ارتباطی با شطرنج نداشته و به احتمال قریب به یقین یادمان مظالم‌نشینی و یا حضور سلطان در مراسم سماع است.

A recent exchange of criticisms over a display of Islamic art illustrates the division of Islamic art history into two main schools. The disagreement was occasioned by the 2006 exhibition entitled Cosmophilia: Islamic Art from the David Collection, Copenhagen. The pleasure it gives, and the objects were arranged according to a traditional division of Islamic ornament into four themes. This occasioned a reaction from a prominent representative of the dominant trend in the academic study of Islamic art, who took the organizers of Cosmophilia to task for promoting a view that strips the artworks of their meaning. In this essay, I consider each of these viewpoints critically, point out a premise they share, and propose a fresh perspective under which to study works of Islamic art, one that takes into account the meaning of pleasure as a natural phenomenon.

Today Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam have the largest populations among world religions. These three worldviews have made monumental contributions in shaping the visual arts of human civilization. This paper serves to provide a brief historical summary and theological exegesis of the visual culture present in these three traditions, as well as draw comparative conclusions. One will see the overlapping similarities and differences in worldview, delineating significant implications for the varying limitations in subject matter and cultural adaptability. The study of interfaith aesthetics is important, not only in light of the proliferation of pluralistic artistic imagery made ubiquitous in the visual age, but also to provide holistic balance to interfaith dialogue, which has tended to focus on theology of sacred texts and not recognizing how visual culture has a profound effect on shaping one’s understanding of the earth, humanity, and the Divine.