09:30-10:00
REGISTRATION & COFFEE
10:00-11:00
The Art of the Kiswa
Nahla Nassar :: Curator, Nasser D Khalili Collection
This lecture presents an overview of the kiswah, the sitarah and the hizam of the Ka‘bah and related textiles from the Prophet’s Mosque, through historic accounts and extant examples, and a discussion of the styles, materials and techniques employed in their production.
11:00-12:00
Ceramics: The Islamic Tradition of Design
Ernst Grube :: Professor Emeritus from the University of Venice, Founder-Editor of Islamic Art
This module is a brief survey of Islamic ceramics and their decoration from the 8th to the 18th centuries. It also deals with pre-Islamic and Chinese influences on Muslim potters and their technical invention and creativity.
12:00-12:20
COFFEE BREAK
12:20-13:20
The Glittering Surface: Islamic Inlaid Metalwork
Rachel Ward :: Independent Scholar, Islamic Art
This lecture traces the evolution and development of inlaid brass vessels between the 12th and the 15th centuries and looks at the growing demand for these richly decorated objects at the courts of Renaissance Europe and the imitation of the inlay technique in the workshops of 15th century Venice.
13:20-14:30
LUNCH BREAK
14:30-15:30
Painting in the Islamic World: Painted Palaces & Illustrated Books
Eleanor Sims :: Editor, Islamic Art
This overview covers monuments and illustrated literature in the Arab lands, Persia, Turkey and India through five examples of Islamic figural painting – an art that was widely practiced wherever Muslims lived and flourished but one whose existence is usually overlooked, if it is not actively negated.
15:30-16:30
History of Collecting & the Market Today
Edward Gibbs :: Head of the Islamic Department, Sotheby's
While the earliest Islamic collections were formed through commercial and colonial contacts: art was both traded and looted. Today, the flow of art has been reversed: most of what is sold publicly today flows back into collections in the Middle East. The lecture traces the trends and history of Islamic collecting.
16:30-17:00
COFFEE BREAK