Gulf and Indian Ocean World Art and Architecture

Catalog description

Focusing on the art, architecture, and cultural exchanges that occurred across the Gulf and Indian Ocean networks, this course explores the history of artistic production in the Islamic world. Presenting a select group of materials within a chronological and dynastic framework, the course will investigate the art and architecture produced in regions including the Swahili coast, the Red Sea, the Arabian Peninsula, the Gulf and South Asia, and the relationships between them. We will consider important and representative works of architecture, ceramics, metalwork, textiles and the arts of the book. These selections will highlight important internal developments as well as 'points of contact' between cultural entities. This approach - at once global and local - speaks to the dynamic and fluid qualities of many of the arts produced in the regions under scrutiny. Class meetings will combine both lectures and seminar discussions of visual presentations and assigned readings.