Islamic Arts 23 Islamic Arts Diary By Lucien de Guise


MORE THAN THE MADONNA Women in traditional Islamic art are rarely visible unless they are part of a Mughal or Persian romantic situation. One of the few exceptions is Mariam, known to the Western world as the Blessed Virgin Mary. In keeping with Muslim custom, the Birmingham-based contemporary artists Farwa Moledina prefers to put the Arabic honorific ‘a.s.’ equivalent of ‘blessed’ after her name. Te same applies to three other women whose role in Islamic culture is almost as important as Mariam. Tese extra individuals who have been promised paradise are Aasiya, Khadijah and Fatimah. Together they are the inspiration for a remarkable work of art on display at a gallery that doesn’t receive enough attention, in an English city whose artistic resources are equally overlooked. Women of Paradise (2022) is on display at the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham. Farwa Moledina’s work consists of


four wooden frames, hinged together, encasing digitally printed textiles and embroidery. Te arched shape of the frames resembles the mihrab prayer niches in the walls of mosques that indicate the direction of prayer. In appearance, rather than function, they are not so different from the niches in which statues of the Madonna might be found in a church. Te textiles and embroidery are composed of patterns that relate


CREATIONS GREAT AND SMALL


In London, where so many of the Lebanese and other diasporas have settled, there is a profusion of wares from the Middle East for sale. Tis is still the capital of the Islamic-art market. In some ways it is good to see more of the standard wares for sale at the big three auction houses. Te bread-and-butter of the market is what collectors are likely to display in their homes, as they did a century ago. Tere are, of course, the exceptional lots that will bring in the publicity, but it is often the less expensive offerings that have the more immediate appeal. At Christie’s, for example, with


most of the lots estimated in the thousands of pounds, it is conspicuous when you encounter ‘a rare imperial Mughal pashmina carpet, circa 1650’. With an upper estimate of £3,500,000, this is a huge amount for a carpet – even with Sterling as low as it is. Te design is stunning and the feel divine; it is made of pashmina after all. Te lengthy catalogue essay is filled with wonder, plus a useful quote from the likeable Emperor Jahangir, who appears to have been inspired by a Kashmiri holiday to commission this carpet: ‘Kashmir is a garden of eternal spring… Te red rose, the violet and the narcissus grow of themselves; in the fields, there are all kinds of flowers and all sorts of sweet-scented herbs more than can be calculated’. From this time onwards, floral carpets became the future. For around one thousandth of


RESTORING UNITY From Birmingham to Bloomsbury is a huge leap in terms of popular exposure. At the British Museum another small exhibition has just ended. As with the work of Farwa Moledina it perhaps didn’t receive as much attention as it deserved. One important element of the display also seems to have been ignored by the museum: the continuity of culture in the eastern Mediterranean from Roman times until well into the era of Muslim dominance. Te works are arranged in one


Women of Paradise – Maryam (a.s.) (2021) by Farwa Moledina, digital illustration, 30.5 x 40.7 cm © Courtesy the artist


to the identities of the women represented. For example, one of the least known of the four women, Aasiyah (the adoptive mother of Moses, or Musa in Arabic) is made from images of rivers, baskets, pyramids and Qur’anic verses relevant to her story. Te patterns will be familiar to


viewers acquainted with elements of Islamic design such as recurrence, symmetry and abstraction. Islamic art at its most timeless encourages reflection of the self and the universe, and the exploration of what lies beneath the visual surface of this world. In the work’s textiles and embroidery, shapes are placed


Women of Paradise – Fatimah (a.s.) (2021) by Farwa Moledina, digital Illustration, 40.5 x 50.1 cm © Courtesy the artist


• Women of Paradise at the Ikon Gallery ends 13 November


within other shapes until a pattern begins to emerge. Tese multi- layered compositions are an invitation to examine preconceived notions of women within Islamic tradition. Te Ikon Gallery – whose very name presents a conundrum – has been encouraging this sort of engagement with the public for almost 60 years. It is exciting to see dialogue with the Islamic world that involves a home-grown artist from Birmingham. Intriguingly, this exhibition finishes soon after the Christian special month dedicated to Mary came to an end.


showcase and show ancient glass in many different manifestations, all derived from a common sense of form following function. Te other thing they all have in common is that they are survivors of a recent tragedy. In August 2020, a massive stockpile of ammonium nitrate exploded in Beirut. An impressive projection in the gallery gives some of the feel of a catastrophe in which at least 218 people died and 300,000 were displaced. A few kilometres away from the scene of the blast, at the Archaeological Museum at the American University of Beirut, a case displaying 74 glass vessels was destroyed. Tese shards were mixed with those from the case and surrounding windows. Te story of the restoration of eight of these vessels is a powerful expression of the grief, solidarity and recovery of the people of Lebanon. A collaboration between


Imperial Mughal pashmina carpet, Northern India, circa 1650. Courtesy of Christie’s


the price of this carpet, Christie’s has an engaging fragment from Islamic Spain. In silk, rather than pashmina wool, it also has links to the Metropolitan Museum, where the carpet above was displayed in an important exhibition. With the 15th-century silk-lampas fragment it is a wild beast and not flowers that provides the focus. Probably an heraldic lion of the Nasrid dynasty, it hints at the coming together of the Muslim and Christian worlds that happened in the Iberian Peninsula over many centuries. At Sotheby’s there are similar


extremes of pricing and publicity. At one end of the spectrum is a painted folio from the greatest-ever compilation of Persian illuminated paintings, the Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp (formerly known as the


Houghton Shahnameh). Painted circa 1530, it is among the world’s true masterpieces, despite being just one page of a dispersed book, probably by the legendary Mirza ‘Ali. Te catalogue essay is almost a book in itself and, as with Christie’s, comes with plenty of scholarship and some useful quotes. Te painting features the heroic Rustam reclaiming his horse, which the poet Firdausi described as being: ‘Like saffron petals, mottled red and gold; Brave as a lion, a camel for its height, An elephant in massive strength and might’. Te provenance of this work is


almost as impressive as the painting. For centuries it was owned by the Ottoman sultans before becoming part of the Rothschild collecting dynasty for more than 50 years. For me, one of


the most exciting but least discussed aspects of the work is that it was exhibited at the Musée des arts décoratifs, Paris in 1903. Te title of the show was the Exposition d’art Islamique, which would make this among the earliest examples of the term ‘Islamic art’ being used. At the same sale, again for a


thousandth of the Persian star lot (£6,000,000 upper estimate) is a Sub-Saharan Qur’an. Tese have become more collectable in recent years, and there is another one for sale at Christie’s. Now that African culture is so widely admired, there should be more research on these manuscripts. Most of the analysis so far is of the paper, which is interesting enough but only tells a small part of the story of Islam in what used to be called ‘Black Africa’. Usually arranged unbound in a leather case, they have an energy that is absolutely irrepressible and a world away from the fussy refinement of Ottoman examples in particular. As they are already in the form of loose leaves they will no doubt one day be ‘dispersed’ in the same way as the Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp. At Bonhams, the lots that have


Qur’an, Sub-Saharan West Africa, second half 19th century. Courtesy of Sotheby’s


received the most attention are by no means the most expensive. Instead, they relate to that most enigmatic category of Englishmen: the aristocrat who becomes so sympathetic to Islam he converts to that faith. Rowland George Allanson Allanson-Winn, 5th Baron Headley (1855-1935) was one of these. Later known as Shaikh Rahmatullah al-Farooq, he


Restored glass from Beirut brings home a message of hope


the AUB and the British Museum shows the UK giving back to the worldwide community, in terms of time and expertise at least. Staff from the Archaeological


Museum worked with British Museum conservators to restore Roman, Byzantine and Islamic examples, which are now whole again – give or take some new additions to pieces that will never be found. Ranging from the first to the ninth century, the bowls, flask, beaker, jug and cup bear witness to the rich cultural heritage of a region that has experienced many different religions. Now that the exhibition is over, the vessels will return home to Beirut, where they might encourage some of the unity that this ancient land has been missing for a long time.


A signed photograph of Lord Headley by C Vandyk, London, between 1923 and 1935.Courtesy of Bonhams


was serious enough to undertake the Hajj pilgrimage at a time when it was still no easy ride. Various items of his are for sale, mainly relating to his journey to Mecca. Significantly, he founded the British Muslim Society in 1914. Its purpose was as relevant then as it would be now – to show how Islam was not antagonistic to Christianity. Tis former boxing blue from Cambridge was made of tough stuff for any era, undertaking his pilgrimage at the age of 68. He was offered the kingship of Albania, which was looking for a Muslim ruler. Lord Headley turned it down as, quite sensibly, he feared that he would become an assassination target.


ASIAN ART | NOVEMBER 2022


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