An Introduction to Symbolism in Islamic Art and Architecture

The underlying language of Islamic art has been neglected by Western analysis, and that it is to metaphysics, not merely aesthetics, that one should turn to discover the key which renders it articulate.

It is universally agreed that the traditional art of the Islamic world is almost always beautiful and even ingenious, but beyond its aesthetic appeal, does it mean anything?

Western historians of Islamic art have tended to view it as an art that was from its beginnings diverted by religious prohibitions against naturalism into alternative forms of expression. In such a view, patterns, letter, and shapes on every scale are robbed not only of their qualitative aspect but also of any possibility of symbolic meaning.

This lecture will propose that the underlying language of this art has been neglected by Western analysis, and that it is to metaphysics, not merely aesthetics, that one should turn to discover the key which renders it articulate.

This talk will be given by Jason Elliot, who was described by Nobel Prize Laureate Doris Lessing as 'that rare traveller who surrenders himself to people and places'. He has written award-winning books of both fiction and non-fiction, including An Unexpected Light, Travels in Afghanistan (2000) and His Mirrors of the Invisible, Journeys in Iran (2006). He has been described as 'a traveller of the old school: untethered to an itinerary, eager to be led astray, and as ardent an observer of the experience of travelling as of his destination' (New Yorker). He has three children and lives in England.

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