Tag: Islamic art
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The Artist and the Nafs in Modernity
This epitomizes the phenomena of the modern artist, marketing themselves as a part of the art, rendering the art and its meaning as secondary. The commercialization of art and the aggrandization of the self become imperative in propelling the artist’s quest for financial gain. In essence, art is now judged on its ability to be…
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Soetsu Yanagi: ‘The Beauty of Everyday Things’
“The Beauty of Everyday Things,” is a compilation of writings by Soetsu Yanagi (1889 – 1961), an art historian and philosopher of religion, who founded the Mingei (民芸) movement of Japanese folk art, inspired by the beautifully hand-crafted objects created by ordinary and often unknown artisans for everyday use. [1] Influenced by John Ruskin and William Morris, his…
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Towards An Islamic Theory of Culture Part III: It Starts and Ends With Tawḥīd
The theocentricity of Islam is distinguished from other faith traditions through the principle of tawḥīd (absolute monotheism). Faruqi argues that tawḥīd is not merely a tenet of creed, but also a philosophical foundation. All matters of a Muslim’s life, his belief, spiritual and social obligations, are all in service of tawḥīd. When taking Islam as…
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Towards An Islamic Theory of Culture Part II: On Islamicates and Third Ways
The modern history of the Balkans region presents a great analogy for the West’s anxieties towards the Islamic world, an uncanny image of an Islamic heritage which the heirs of Christendom wished to forget. From the fall of the Ottoman Empire in the 1920s, through to the rise and fall of Yugoslavia such an image…
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Art as a Reflection of Civilization
“Islamic art” is broadly understood as all the arts that have been produced in the Muslim world. However, it does not simply denote the crafts of Muslim patrons.