New Directions in the History of Early Islamic Art and Architecture

With the passing of fifty years since the initial publication of Oleg Grabar’s The Formation of Islamic Art, this panel invites/presents papers that reflect on the recent developments in the history of early Islamic art and architecture from the time of the Prophet through the “Age of the Caliphates” (ca. 650–1050 CE). Significant archaeological discoveries, a broader geographical range, and the introduction of new methodological and theoretical approaches have expanded, challenged, or otherwise engaged Grabar’s pioneering synthesis of debates about the first four centuries of Islamic art and architecture. This is a field that was and, in many ways, still is defined by a series of binaries including courtly/religious, continuity/change, public/private, and aniconic/figural. We invite papers that seek to reconsider or deconstruct these dichotomies. Topics may include processes of adaptation from various visual practices of Late Antiquity; new chronological frameworks based on material/socio-technical regimes; new areas of inquiry, including the performative object, space, or gaze; alternative ways of thinking through materiality, spectacle, audience, and authorship; as well as the complicated legacies of colonialism within the field. This panel offers a chance to evaluate how the study of early Islamic visual and material culture have changed since The Formation of Islamic Art and map out new futures for the field.