Islamic+Artwork

By Carol Huang

** Development of Islamic Art **
Originally, Muslims didn’t have their own unique style of art and artwork began to appear during the Umayyad dynasty which was mostly conquests and consolidation. Early pieces of art were commissioned by Byzantine and Sasanian artists and they continued to work in their own styles, techniques, and forms to create Islamic art. These pieces of artwork were contained many elements of decorations such as mosaics, stone-carving, wall-painting and plaster decoration. During the Abbasid dynasty, there was an enormous development for Islamic art as the artists began to include abstract elements instead of being realistic. Over time, Muslim faith resulted in more unique Islamic art though the artists continued to be influenced by neighboring nations such as the Chinese and the Greeks. The Muslims also didn’t believe in showing living beings in their artwork because they believed that only Allah could create life and drawing living beings was an example of idolatry so they had to use other art forms such as calligraphy and geometric shapes. Today, Islamic art do __DOES__ show living beings though in specific religious artwork no living beings are shown.

[|http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/?period=07&region=wam#/Works-of-Art]

The link leads to a timeline that shows the growth in Islamic artwork from the time the Abbasids were in control to near the end of the Jalayrid dynasty. There is also an overview that explains how Iraq (along with the Muslim Empire) was like during this time period.

**Calligraphy**
Calligraphy (“beautiful writing”) was considered the noblest of the visual arts and sacred since it is the art used in the Qur’an. The use of calligraphy represents the visible body of Allah and the beauty of Muhammad’s teachings. To Muslims, calligraphy is a combination of geometric disciplines and there is a sort of dynamics in being able to create the letters in the script. It is considered an honor to have calligraphy as decorations on objects and buildings. The inking of the characters shows continuity of the designs even though different scripts have developed over time and none of the scripts have actually completely disappeared in the world. Out of the many different scripts, there are 5 major scripts: Kufic, Nashki, Thuluth, Ta’liq, and Diwani. The Kufic script is recognized by its short and straight letters with a square style of scrip and use of thick, heavy ink. The Nashki script is considered the most popular even today and is what modern Arabic writing is based off of. The Thuluth script is rarely used for writing in the Qur’an but popularly used as ornamental designs. The Ta’liq script was made specifically to meet the needs of the Persian language and was used widely by royalty until the creation of the Nasta’liq script which was a combination of the Nashki and Ta’liq script. The Diwani script is the cursive style of the Arabic language and is differentiated by the others by complex lines in the letters.

**Geometric Patterns and Arabesque**
Geometric patterns are mainly used to decorate riads, palaces, or mosques. The designs are noted for a lack of variation from geometric patterns of older works due to technical difficulty in creating new designs since mathematics are involved in geometric designs. Using geometric and floral designs as decorations is challenging since they are limited to copying existing motifs and artists tend to use amateur software to make them. Geometric patterns are believed by Muslims to reflect the language of the universe and help believers think about life and greatness of their creation. The circles used demonstrate infinity and reminds Muslims that Allah is infinite in all characteristics. Complex designs show repetition and repeating patterns shows how a single element of pattern can be part of a big thing. Plant motifs tend to occur in these kinds of art forms.

Arabesque, which was a name given to the art form by 19th century art historians, is a kind of art that formed abstract floral elements such as stems, leaves, and flowers. These elements were spread out in a rounded pattern that evolved from depictions of the acanthus plant and grape vines in late Roman art. This kind of art is symbolizes the united faith and continues to remain common today.

Characteristics and Importance of Islamic Art
Characteristics that continue to occur in Islamic artwork today is to portray the meaning and essence of things instead of merely showing the physical for of the objects. As stated before, people generally don’t appear in religious art though it’s perfectly fine to have living beings appear in other art forms such as photography. Arabic writing also tends to occur in most kinds of Islamic art since Arabic is considered the language of Allah. Islamic art also shows the ideals of order and nature and continues to be abstract and decorative. Over the years, the styles in Islamic art remain consistent which demonstrates how Muslim believes in social consistency and how all Muslims believe in the same basics of Islam even though they are of different ethnics and groups. In other words, Islamic art demonstrates how all Muslims are equal to one another. Muslim artists and craftsmen also manage to convey integrity in their artwork and in the Islamic world today, it doesn’t matter what kind of art is created (whether photography, calligraphy, sculpture, etc.) as long as the meaning of the artwork shows through.

media type="youtube" key="yGp29FIirI8?version=3" height="360" width="640"

This video demonstrates the variety of Islamic artwork there is in the world today and how they occur in many different places such as Uzbekistan and Samarkand.

**Bibliography **

 * @http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/orna/hd_orna.htm (Used for first sub-topic)
 * http://www.salaam.co.uk (Used for second and third sub-topic)
 * @http://www.patternislamicart.com/ (Used for all sub-topics)
 * @http://www.nomadinception.com/op-islamic-geometric-design-in-Arabic-architecture.aspx (Used for third sub-topic)
 * @http://bbc.co.uk/religion/religious/islam/art/art_1.html (Used for second, third, and fourth sub-topics)
 * @http://www.huntfor.com/arthistory/medieval/Islamic (Used for second and third sub-topics)
 * @http://lacma.org/islamic_art/ian.htm (Used for all sub-topics)