Call for papers for a proposed conference at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in December. Ceramics produced in Southeast Asia under Muslim rule are of interest.
Ceramics from Islamic Lands
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
3 to 5 December 2020
Organised by Mariam Rosser-Owen (V&A) and Leslee Michelsen (Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art)
The V&A proposes to hold a conference on the theme of ceramics from Islamic lands. Proposals are invited for 20-minute papers on any theme, including but not limited to: significant bodies of archaeological material, ceramic imports into the Islamic world, trade with China, Europe and the Americas, ceramics produced in South and South-East Asia under Muslim rule, object-focused and art historical studies, studies in conservation or restoration, scientific analysis, technology and technique, architecture, epigraphy, historicism and revival (in particular within the region), the formation of private and public collections from the 19th century to today, continuity and change under colonialism, modernism, contemporary artistic practice, and contemporary craft traditions. Please send abstracts of 250 words to ceramicsfromislamiclands@gmail.com by 30th April
We aim to contact those selected to participate by the end of June. We plan to cover speakers’ travel and accommodation costs for the duration of the conference. We also hope to provide fellowships to support the travel of a limited number of colleagues and students from under-represented institutions and countries who wish to attend the conference. Further information on these will be announced later in the year.
This conference is being organised to coincide with two exhibitions taking place at the V&A this autumn: Epic Iran (17 October 2020-3 May 2021) and Contemporary Ceramics from the Middle East (8 June 2020-31 January 2021). The backdrop to the conference will be one of the greatest collections of ceramics in the world. The V&A’s holdings include examples of the earliest type of glazed wares made in the Middle East as well as pieces from the 19th century, and they range across all the geographies encompassed within the discipline of ‘Islamic art’, with particularly large and significant groups of ceramics from medieval and Safavid Iran and the Ottoman world. The Museum also holds important European material inspired by Islamic designs. Today its curators are actively bringing these collections into the 20th and 21st centuries.
For further information, please contact the organisers on the above email address.
