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The Jameel Prize for Islamic Art at the UK's Victoria & Albert Museum

THE ARTS DESK
By Marina Vaizey
Fashion Week (2010) by Soody Shafiri
UNITED KINGDOM - Soody Shafiri’s Fashion Week (2010) (pictured above) digitally manipulates a large-scale photograph of a centuries-old Mughal miniature featuring a cheerfully ceremonial crowd of men and women in a palace courtyard, digitally inserting contemporary women in conventional, conservative Muslim dress on a catwalk in a palace courtyard, surrounded by the painted crowd of Mughal men and women(above). [It is] among the pieces in various media on exhibit from the 10 short-listed artists and designers for the 2011 Jameel Prize, which will be announced on 12 September (£25,000 for an artist or designer whose work is inspired by an Islamic aesthetic). Their personal faith (or lack of it) and family is irrelevant; what is crucial is their ability creatively to reinterpret for today any aspect of the arts of Islam, and in any material. The shortlist is chosen from hundreds of artists nominated worldwide by a broad group of experts who each may suggest up to five names. There is a changing panel of judges. [link]
Hadie Shafdie's '26000 Pages' echoes the physical act of ecstatic recitation
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Comments

Ernest Disney-Britton said…
In the Middle East, the holy period of Ramadan begins tomorrow on August 1. However, I've also read that it begins today (a day earlier) for most of the USA and Canada. The bottom line is that it's a great period of time to learn more about Islam through the art of its adherents, and to celebrate the differences in our cultures. In my own experience, celebrating the culture of others only makes me understand theirs more and leads me to loving my own even more. In the learning of the Other, I grow in the Self.
Sun Jul 31, 08:45:00 AM EDT
Anonymous said…
Tahlib, there is nothing for me as a Christian to learn from Islam, including Islamic art.
Sun Jul 31, 09:05:00 AM EDT
VR said…
Thanks for posting other arts representing the world's art. Unlike anonymous' comment, there is something for everyone to learn in the art of all cultures throughout history. Closing doors and closed minds lead to a closed heart.
Sun Jul 31, 06:51:00 PM EDT
Ernest Disney-Britton said…
Thanks Vic. We appreciate your thanks and totally agree with your perspective. Closed minds does lead to closed hearts. Sister Wendy Beckett once said, what we see in religious art is what we bring to it (or something close to that).
Mon Aug 01, 08:23:00 AM EDT
momazato said…
If it is good art, it transcends its religious tradition being beautiful and meaningful in and of itself. Knowing the religious tradition may add additional layers of meaning and place it in a context, but whether it is Surfing madonna or the abstact work of Shafdie, it can still bring delight and be a cause for thoughtful contemplation.
Mon Aug 01, 09:43:00 PM EDT
Ernest Disney-Britton said…
If it's good art, the power of its religious tradition can be even stronger for the viewer such as the Sistine Chapel. But what if it's bad art? In my experience, there can still be an impact but that spiritual power will come through the creation process. I am quite taken by Monks and Nuns who spend their time prayerfully creating Buddhist Mandala's or Christian icons. All their art may not be good art, but it's certainly spiritually powerful for them.
Tue Aug 02, 02:30:00 PM EDT
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