Professional Documents
Culture Documents
One would enquire in vain for the masters who brought this system to its flowering or those who later opened up new ways for its development. This art is totally anonymous and it would contradict the artists noblest charge, which was the liberation of the spirit from the transitoriness of worldly ties. From The Arabesque by Ernst Kuhnel
Islamic art has a recognisable aesthetic signature that somehow manages to express itself across an entire range of productions. The language of this art, once established, was readily assimilated by each of the different nations and ethnicities that were brought within the Islamic sphere. Assimilated and built upon, because every region, at every period, produced its own versions of this supernational style. This extraordinary consistency of styles and artistic preferences in the Islamic world clearly derive from a deeper, social consistency. All Muslims hold to the same basic system of belief, all are familiar with the customary religious observations, and all despite national and ethnic differences and rivalries felt themselves to be Muslim first and foremost. This strong sense of identity and continuity tended towards a high degree of social, and artistic, conservatism. As a result, many forms and artistic concepts remained unchanged over the centuries on the other hand, Islamic art has constantly demonstrated its capacity for the creative reinterpretation of accepted forms. Much of the art of Islam, whether in architecture, ceramics, textiles or books, is the art of decoration which is to say, of transformation. The aim, however, is never merely to ornament, but rather to transfigure. Essentially, this is a reflection of the Islamic preoccupation with the transitory nature of being. Substantial structures and objects are made to appear less substantial, materials are de-materialised. The vast edifices of mosques are transformed into lightness and pattern; the decorated pages of a Quran can become windows onto the infinite. Perhaps most importantly, the Word, expressed in endless calligraphic variations, always conveys the impression that it is more enduring than the objects on which it is inscribed.
This window-grill from the Umayyad Mosque, Damascus shows a direct continuation of the Syro-Roman tradition
Mosaic decoration from the Umayyad Mosque, Damascus. This also shows an unbroken continuation of late-classical, Byzantine tradition of sacred architectural decoration, but the subject-matter, of a paradise landscape, is decidedly Islamic.
Faade of the Umayyad castle of al-Mushatta (detail of carved stone-work). The rich variety of floral and animal forms derive from both classical and oriental sources
Calligraphy gives a visible form to the revealed word of the Quran and is therefore considered the most noble of the arts. It manages to combine a geometric discipline with a dynamic rhythm. Interestingly, none of its many styles, created in different places at different periods, has ever completely fallen into disuse. In the Islamic world it takes the place of iconography, being widely used in the decorative schemes of buildings Geometric patterns have always had a particular appeal to Muslim designers and craftsmen. They convey a certain aura of spirituality, or at least otherworldliness, without relating to any specific doctrine. In an Islamic context they are also quite free of any symbolic meaning. Above all they provide craftsmen with the opportunity to demonstrate his skill and subtlety of workmanship, and often to dazzle and intrigue with its sheer complexity Vegetal Arabesque compositions are as ubiquitous in Islamic decoration as geometric patterns. It is difficult, without other indications, to determine where or when a particular composition of this genre might have originated. Like geometrical designs, these too are found across the entire range of mediums from book illustration to plasterwork; in ceramics, woodwork, metalwork and ivory-carving, even in carpets and textiles
The craft-group
As indicated earlier, there was no distinction between art and craft in the medieval Islamic world, just as there was no sharp division between notions of beauty and utility. The idea of the brilliant, lone individual artist was also absent. These are modern concepts. In fact, architectural and artistic productions generally tended to be the work of groups of anonymous craftsmen, whose occupations were usually hereditary and based within guilds or similar craft-groups. However, given that the subject area of the decorative arts of Islam has such an extensive geographical and historical reach, and involved a great variety of craft skills, generalisations of any kind about this broad subject may be misleading. Among such a diverse range of artistic traditions there were bound to be huge variations in working practices, social status, and indeed of expressive intent, in so many and varied creative processes. As Ive indicated, by comparison with life in the modern world, medieval Islamic society was highly conservative. We can imagine that working practices, just like the designs and motifs that were used, often persisted for generations with little change. There was no formal training; skills were acquired in the workshops, and were often handed down from father to son. The apprentice/master relationship was usually regularised however, and there is evidence that craft-groups were formed into guilds (which had similarities with the trade-guilds of medieval Europe). It seems also to have been the case that some of these guilds (in some periods at least) were affiliated to religious groups. Details of this kind are naturally difficult to uncover, as they tended to be bound up with the mystique and protectiveness of what were essentially closed professions. It is of more than passing interest though, that these religious connections were usually associated with Sufi fraternities, whose mystical outlook had been imbued with Neoplatonic concepts.
The production of specialised goods, and the particular skills involved, were often localised, but these skills often took artisans far away from their home. Occasionally these movements were less than voluntary. In the turmoil of war craft-skills were generally prized as a form of booty and artisans could be carted off to the victors base, sometimes en masse. Since the ruling power was usually the greatest patron of arts and architecture, it often happened that new artistic movements were initiated in this way. The dynasty founded by Timurlane was perhaps the most famous example of this effect. It occasionally happened that skilled craftsmen were welcomed as refugees after fleeing invasions and wars. The relative security of Fatimid Egypt attracted many mid-eastern artisans during the turbulent 11th/12th centuries, much to the cultural benefit of Cairo. The transfer of skills and knowledge as a result of migrations and conquest is of course a time-honoured process. Huge numbers of skilled artisans from various traditions were brought into the Islamic fold as a result of the early conquests, and in the course of time these skills became part of the background of Islamic culture. But there was one craft technology in particular that was acquired in this way that had a profound effect on the course of Islamic civilisation on many levels (including the visual arts). This was the manufacture of paper.
It would certainly appear that there was, for centuries, a broad awareness and appreciation of the aesthetic aspects of ornament and a lively interaction between different crafts. The stylistic homogeneity of Islamic art referred to at the beginning of this note may have its foundations in Islamic cultural homogeneity, but its primary medium of transmission was paper. Source: http://www.patterninislamicart.com/background-notes/the-evolution-of-style/