Books - Art
Migrations, Arts and Postcoloniality in the Mediterranean by
This book is focused on the transcultural memory of the Mediterranean region and the different ways it is articulated by contemporary art practices and museum projects linked to migrations, exile, diaspora and transnationality. The artistic and curatorial examples analysed in this study articulate a critical relationship between the cultural representations and the sense of heritage, property and belonging, offering the opportunity of a more problematic and stimulating vision of the preservation of the European arts, traditions and histories. Artists and projects examined include the project Porto M in Lampedusa, Zineb Sedira, Ursula Biemann, Lara Baladi, Mona Hatoum, Emily Jacir, Kader Attia and Walid Raad.
Call Number: 700.9045 Ia6mISBN: 9781138479609Publication Date: 2018-05-04
Masterpieces from the Department of Islamic Art in the Metropolitan Museum of Art by
This expansive book reveals the great diversity and range of art of the Arab lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and later South Asia. Published to coincide with the historic reopening of the galleries of the Metropolitan Museum's Islamic Art Department, it presents nearly three hundred masterpieces from one of the finest collections in the world. The works range chronologically from the origins of Islam in the seventh century through the nineteenth century, and geographically from as far west as Spain and Morocco to as far east as India. Outstanding miniature paintings and illuminated manuscripts, ceramics, textiles, carpets, glass, and metalwork reflect the mutual influence of artistic practice in the sacred and secular realms. Many of these beautiful objects display the rich traditions of calligraphy, vegetal ornament (the arabesque), and geometric patterning that distinguish the arts of the Islamic world. With seven informative essays and almost three hundred catalogue entries--supplemented by introductory essays on the collection and its display--this handsome and comprehensive overview will enlighten the specialist and the general reader alike.
Call Number: Q. 709.17671 M567mISBN: 9780300175851Publication Date: 2011-11-29
Modern Art in the Arab World by
Modern Art in the Arab World: Primary Documents offers an unprecedented resource for the study of modernism: a compendium of critical art writings by twentieth-century Arab intellectuals and artists. The selection of texts--many of which appear here for the first time in English--includes manifestos, essays, transcripts of roundtable discussions, diary entries, exhibition guest-book comments, letters, and more. Traversing empires and nation-states, diasporas and speculative cultural and political federations, these documents bring light to the formation of a global modernism, through debates on originality, public space, spiritualism and art, postcolonial exhibition politics, and Arab nationalism, among many other topics. The collection is framed chronologically, and includes contextualizing commentaries to assist readers in navigating its broad geographic and historical scope. Interspersed throughout the volume are sixteen contemporary essays: writings by scholars on key terms and events as well as personal reflections by modern artists who were themselves active in the histories under consideration. A newly commissioned essay by historian and Arab-studies scholar Ussama Makdisi provides a historical overview of the region's intertwined political and cultural developments during the twentieth century. Modern Art in the Arab World is an essential addition to the investigation of modernism and its global manifestations. Publication of the Museum of Modern Art Distributed by Duke University Press
Call Number: 709.04 M72041ISBN: 9781633450387Publication Date: 2018-06-07
Under the Skin by
Under the Skin: Feminist Art and Art Histories from the Middle East and North Africa Today is set out to show what is beneath the surface, under the appearances of skin, body, colour and provenance, and not the cultural fixities or partial views detached from the realities of communities,cultures and practices from the area. Through 12 chapters, Under the Skin brings together artistic practices and complex histories informed by feminisms from diverse cultural and geographical contexts: Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey.The aim is not to represent all of the countries from the Middle East and North Africa, but to present a cross-section that reflects the variety of nations, cultures, languages and identities across the area - including those of Berber, Mizrahi Jews, Kurdish, Muslim, Christian, Arab, Persian andArmenian peoples. It thus considers art informed by feminisms through translocal and transnational lenses of diverse ethnic, linguistic and religious groups not solely as a manifestation of multiple and complex social constructions, but also as a crucial subject of analysis in the project ofdecolonising art history and contemporary visual culture. The volume offers an understanding on how art responds to and shapes cultural attitudes towards gender and sexuality, ethnicity/race, religion, tradition, modernity and contemporaneity, and local and global politics. And it strives to strikea balance by connecting the studies of scholars based in the European-North American geography with those attached to the institutions in the Middle East and North Africa in order to stimulate different feminist and decolonial perspectives and debates on art and visual culture from the area.
Call Number: 062 BR v.230ISBN: 9780197266748Publication Date: 2020-11-24
Books - Architecture
Cities of the Mediterranean by
The Eastern Mediterranean is one of the world's most vibrant and vital commercial centres and for centuries the region's cities and ports have been at the heart of East-West trade. Taking a full and comprehensive look at the region as a whole rather than isolating individual cities or distinct cultures, Cities of the Mediterranean offers a fresh and original portrait of the entire region, from the 16th century to the present. In this ambitious inter-disciplinary study, the authors examine the relationships between the Eastern Mediterranean port cities and their hinterlands as well as inland and provincial cities from many different perspectives - political, economic, international and ecological - without prioritising either Ottoman Anatolia, or the Ottoman Balkans, or the Arab provinces in order to think of the Eastern Mediterranean world as a coherent whole. Through its penetrating analysis of the various networks that connected the ports and towns of the Mediterranean and their inhabitants throughout the Ottoman period, Cities of the Mediterranean presents the region as a unified and dynamic community and paves the way for a new understanding of the subject.
Call Number: 307.76091822 C498ISBN: 9781848851276Publication Date: 2010-03-31
Islamic Palace Architecture in the Western Mediterranean by
Palaces like the Aljaferia and the Alhambra rank among the highest achievements of the Islamic world. In recent years archaeological work at Cordoba, Kairouan and many other sites has vastly increased our knowledge about the origin and development of Islamic palatial architecture, particularlyin the Western Mediterranean region. This book offers a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of Islamic palace architecture in Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and southern Italy. The author, who has himself conducted archaeological field work at several prominent sites, presents all Islamicpalaces known in the region in ground plans, sections and individual descriptions.The book traces the evolution of Islamic palace architecture in the region from the 8th to the 19th century and places them within the context of the history of Islamic culture. Palace architecture is a unique source of cultural history, offering insights into the way space was conceived and the wayrulers used architecture to legitimize their power. The book discusses such topics as the influence of the architecture of the Middle East on the Islamic palaces of the western Mediterranean region, the role of Greek logic and scientific progress on the design of palaces, the impact of Islamicpalaces on Norman and Gothic architecture and the role of Sufism on the palatial architecture of the late medieval period.
Call Number: Online ResourceISBN: 9780190624552Publication Date: 2017-03-14
Research Databases
- Art & Architecture Source This link opens in a new window
Alternate version: Art & Architecture Source in the classic EBSCO user interface (best for exporting more than 50 results or combining saved searches). Based on a merger of databases from EBSCO Publishing and H.W. Wilson, and including many unique sources that were never previously available, this database covers a broad range of related subjects, from fine, decorative and commercial art, to various areas of architecture and architectural design. This database features full-text articles as well as detailed indexing and abstracts for an array of journals, books, podcasts and more. International in scope, Art Source includes periodicals published in French, Italian, German, Spanish and Dutch and is designed for use by a diverse audience, including art scholars, artists, designers, students and general researchers.
- Artstor This link opens in a new windowNow part of the JSTOR Archive, Artstor is a database of digital images and associated catalog data, with new image collections added several times a year. The collection formerly known as Artstor covers many time periods and cultures, and documents the fields of architecture, painting, sculpture, photography, decorative arts, design, anthropology, ethnographic and women studies, as well as many other forms of visual culture. Users can search, view, download and organize images.
- Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals This link opens in a new window
Alternate version: Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals in the classic EBSCO user interface (best for exporting more than 50 results or combining saved searches). Comprehensive listing of journal articles on architecture and design, including the history and practice of architecture, landscape architecture, city planning, historic preservation, and interior design and decoration. The American and international journals indexed include not only scholarly and popular periodical literature, but also publications of professional associations, American state and regional periodicals, and the major serials on architecture and design of Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Australia. Coverage is mainly from 1934 to the present, with selective coverage back to 1741.
- Index of Medieval Art This link opens in a new windowBased on The index of Christian art, a thematic and iconographic index of early Christian and medieval art objects begun at Princeton University in 1917, the index catalogs primarily Christian art from early apostolic times to approximately 1400 A.D. While coverage is predominantly of Christian iconography, Jewish, Islamic, and non-ecclesiastical subjects are also covered. The database contains a portion of the index's backfiles as well as all works cataloged since 1991. Entries include descriptive information, provenance, location and ownership information, bibliographical references, and, when available, a photographic reproduction of the work of art.
- Projekt Dyabola This link opens in a new windowDYABOLA is a navigable, source-oriented text and image registration system equipped with a semantic network, a syntax generator and a data-scrolling machine. Developed for the humanities and the arts, it contains electronic subject catalogs of publications on the history of art and the ancient world and includes the subject catalogs of the German Archaeological Institute in Rome, the Bibliography of Iberian Archaeology from the German Archaeological Institute in Madrid, and the Archaeology of Roman Provinces from RGK Frankfurt.
The University of Illinois has access to four catalogs in Projekt Dyabola: Archaeological Bibliography (enhanced version of Realkatalog) 1956, Attic Gravestones of the Late 5th and 4th Century B.C., Bibliography of European Prehistory, Monographs (RGK), 1992-2011, and Eurasienbibliographie des Deutschen Archaeologischen Instituts.
