Yale University Press Publishes Book on the 9th Edition of the Hamad bin Khalifa Symposia on Islamic Art

The book was edited by three art history scholars, two of whom are VCUarts Qatar faculty members

Yale University Press, in association with Qatar Foundation (QF), VCUarts in Richmond, US and VCUarts Qatar, recently published a book on the research presented and panel discussions held at the ninth Biennial Hamad bin Khalifa Symposium on Islamic art.

The book bears the same title as the conference – “The Environment and Ecology in Islamic Art and Culture” – held at VCUarts Qatar in 2021.

The book was edited by three art history scholars, two of whom are VCUarts Qatar faculty members – Dr. Radha Dalal, Associate Professor and Director of Art History, and Dr. Jochen Sokoly, Associate Professor of Art History. Dr. Sean Roberts, Senior Lecturer at the University of Tennessee Knoxville’s School of Art, is the third editor. The three scholars were also the co-chairs of the 2021 conference.

The topics explore the optimistic, sustainable, and innovative responses adopted by artists and builders across Islamic civilization while acknowledging the often irreversible and escalating damage that necessitates such ingenuity. As a whole, the volume considers how art historical, anthropological, and archaeological research on the Islamic world can engage with these concerns philosophically, methodologically, and, above all, practically.

Announcing the launch of the book, Dr. Radha Dalal said, “An eco-conscious ethos has traditionally characterized Islamic scripture and culture. Historical and contemporary Islamic visual traditions have demonstrated this consciousness in urban planning, landscape architecture, water management, and a host of other art forms throughout Islamic lands, including in Qatar, and into the Muslim diaspora. Despite this awareness, in the present epoch of the Anthropocene, human intervention has caused irreparable damage to the planet’s biodiversity and ecosystems instigating changes on an unprecedented scale.”

“As art history shifts its disciplinary attention to address this unfolding global crisis, this volume considers how an ecological art history can examine objects, materials, and the built environment through the dual lenses of Islamic culture and climatic change. We invited chapters that consider anthropogenic transformations of land and water, conceptualization and representations of the changing natural world, artistic responses to recent and historical climatic events, and the intersections of such shifting environments with human experiences of gender, race, and socioeconomic status around the globe.”

Copies are available for purchase from Yale University Press.  

Those interested in learning more about the biennial conference, or the upcoming tenth edition titled “Islamic Art History and the Global Turn: Theory, Method, Practice” to be held from November 11-13, at VCUarts Qatar, can visit https://islamicart.qatar.vcu.edu/