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7001 Introduction to Geometry in Islamic Art, by Raeda Ashour

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Introduction to Geometry and Pattern: Adornment in Islamic Art Raeda Ashour


Course Number and Name: 7001 Introduction to Geometry and Pattern: Adornment in Islamic Art. Program/Major: M.A. in Art Education Practical Problem: Learning some techniques related to Islamic art Advisor: Professor Alan Guinn. English Spelling Used: US. Permission to Publish on the Rushmore Website: Yes Resources: Study Guide: Principles of Islamic Design: Geometric Patterns and Islimi motifs, The Prince's School of Traditional Arts In partnership with Effat College, 2006 Reasons for taking this course: As an Arab artist, Islamic art is a major source of inspiration for me and is a cultural legacy that I am interested to know and learn.

Executive Summary: When I started my career as an artist my main objective was to reflect my feelings of love and respect for the artistic cultural heritage of the area. By the area I mean this part of the world called the Middle East or the Arab world. I was fascinated by folk arts and crafts as well as Islamic art. The method I use in my work involves various techniques with paper, such as collage, paper manual embossing and photo montage. I find inspiration in old

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Islamic architectural details and symbols. Because of the complicated shapes in most of the Islamic designs, I used to either simplify them or use them as collage pieces. My education was not in the field of art. I gained my B.A. in Middle East Studies which is based mainly on the history and politics of the Middle East. All my current knowledge related to art came from books and experience. For these reasons I felt the need to study Islamic art in detail. The workshop was interesting, inspiring, and helpful. My respect for art increased as I discovered the amount of effort and accuracy needed to complete an art piece. I will explain in detail what the workshop was based on, what I learned and how I plan to use the knowledge gained from this learning experience. In fact I am planning to take another workshop that will be held by the same school in March.

Introduction to Islamic art: And the bases for the workshop: 1.1
I find it useful to give a brief introduction to Islamic art. It is a fact that the law of the Qur'an is social as well as spiritual: no aspect of life is untouched by it and therefore all art has to abide by its principles. The complete ban on representational art in the most important contexts, such as in mosques or in the writing and illumination of the Quran, is particularly striking and meant that the artistic genius of the Islamic world took a different direction to Christian art.1 It is said that Muslims tended to reject the representation of the visible in their art to emphasize that the visible reality is but an illusion and that Allah alone is true. Abstraction thus became a way to make a very specific theological point It is true that the early Islamic art modified the art of previous centuries by tending to avoid the presentation of humans and animals. Whether this reluctance was derived from a still undetected religious prohibition or from a search for a cultural identity distinct from the identities of other traditions remains a matter of scholarly debate.2 Another source states that: Neither the Qur'an nor the traditions (the Sunna of the prophet) contain specific mandates against figural representation in art.

Eva Wilson, British Museum Pattern Books: Islamic Design, British Museum Press, 1988, p.9

Grolier Academic Encyclopedia, Grolier International, 1983, V. 11, p.296

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However, both sources take a firm stance against idolatry and the worship of images. These precepts were interpreted strictly by early Islamic religious leaders and exegetes as an injunction against the depiction of human or animal figures, although extant examples of architectural decoration, objects in all media, and illustrated manuscripts belie that stricture. Four types of ornamentation can be found in Islamic art: calligraphy, figural forms (human and animal), vegetal motifs, and geometric patters.3 In the workshop we studied some aspects of Islamic art related to these last two elements.

1.2

Geometry is one the most important elements of Islamic art. Star shapes and polygons appear in all the arts and provide a source of much architectural decoration geometric shapes are highly versatile and can be extremely complicated.4 One of the common myths of Islamic art is that it is characterized by a horror of vacui or fear of emptiness, leading to unwillingness to leave any surface blank or undecorated. Although this is an exaggeration and overgeneralization, the surfaces of many Islamic objects are substantially covered in ornament, often small-scale and combining several types of decorations.5 Geometry lies at the heart of Islamic design From the simple polygons and rectangles used as framing devices to the highly complex interlaces of stars and irregular polygons, geometry functions as an organizing principle on the surfaces of the whole range of media.6 Canby wrote in her recent book Islamic Art in Detail that the reasons for the firm establishment of geometry as one of the dominant types of Islamic ornament are not entirely clear. However, the intellectual environment at the courts of the 'Abbasids caliphs from the 9th to the 11th century may have played a role in generating an interest in mathematics which extended far beyond the confines of the court itself.7

Islamic Art and Geometric Design: Activities for Learning, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004, p.10

Sheila R. Candy, Islamic Art in Detail, The British Museum Press, 2005, p.8 Ibid. p.6 Ibid. p. 20 Ibid. p. 20

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1.3

This is a brief introduction to the school that organized the workshop. The Visual and Traditional Arts program (VITA) was founded to specialize in the arts and architecture of Islam as well as the traditional arts of other civilizations. It is written in the leaflet of the school that one of the principal aims of VITA is to encourage an appreciation of the universal values that are fundamental to the arts of the great traditions of the world.8 VITA forms the core education program of HRH the Prince of Waless newly formed Princes School of Traditional Arts. It is also mentioned in the leaflet of the school that:

1.3.1

The work of VITA represents more than just an education for the eyes, hands and mind: it has an impact on the soul through an objective understanding of the full meaning of art. Traditional art asks the viewer to look not at the works as a personal expression of the individual artist, but on the artist's particular evocation of a universal principle. VITA aims to encourage an awareness among the students that form, pattern and color, as manifested in the various branches of traditional arts, are not simply aesthetically pleasing or demonstrations of good design, but embody a profound beauty- the beauty of the permanent that shines through in the world of the transient.9

1.4 1.5

One of the objectives of the school is to find a practical solution to the threat of extinction that a lot of traditional art forms now face. It is a fact that many traditional art forms have already been destroyed. The workshop was taught by three experts from the Princes School of Traditional Arts (London, UK): Elise Solveg Delong (PhD Candidate Visual and Islamic Art Program VITA), Saba Rifat (MA Visual Arts VITA), and Naomi Louise Preston (MA Visual Islamic and Traditional Arts, The Princes School of Traditional Arts). The aim of the workshop was to introduce us to the principles of Islamic design. The three experts were extremely efficient and the workshop was well organized. There were 18 participants.

Ideas Implemented and Learning Experience

During the workshop the day was divided into two parts with a 30-minute break between the sessions. The first session dealt with geometric designs. The second session dealt with the Islimi or Biomorphic designs. A study guide and all the tools

The leaflet of VITA Ibid.

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needed were provided. A brief introduction was given to help the participants to understand the language of traditional visual Islamic art. The first page of the guide begins with beautiful words introducing the nature of visual Islamic art. It is written that nature provides many examples of absolute beauty which can only serve to inspire the artist. Nature's beauty consists of the beautiful interaction between straight and curved crystalline and biomorphic. There is infinite variety in her essential unity.10 The two-week workshop explored the geometry and the biomorphic forms found in nature and in Islamic adornment. Islamic artisans have taken the basic principles presented by Euclid and transformed them into complex and sophisticated patterns and architectural forms which express their love of beauty and creation By drawing overlapping circles and lines using just a pair of compasses and a straight edge, the student begins to explore the different symmetry groups within the generation of the basic polygon shapes.11

2.1

We learned how to construct eight-fold patterns using compasses and rulers, and to compose the delicate floral motifs frequently used in the adornment of the Qur'ans and mosques. We were also taught how to explore some elements of color harmony as they relate to nature.

During the morning sessions we practiced how to draw: 1234567The triangle and the circle: simple division into six. Variations on the octagonal theme (the static and the dynamic octagon). The octagon and the semi-regular grids. The octagon and the eight-pointed star. How the circle divides itself. The square, four- and eight-fold symmetry. The basis for the classical Islamic Pattern of what is called the eight-fold rosettes. 8- The construction of eight-fold symmetry with a sixteen-fold rosette. (All work will be shown at the end of the paper).

The second session was dedicated to the practice of biomorphic motifs commonly featured in adorning stone, wood, plastic, ceramics, and textiles. The refined and exceptional development of biomorphic designs can be admired in many of the

10

Study Guide:

Principles of Islamic Design: Geometric Patterns and Islimi Motifs, The Prince's School of Traditional Arts in Partnership with Effat College, 2006, p. 3

11

Ibid. P. 14

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great mosques and illuminated Qur'ans from around the Islamic world.12 It is written in the study guide that through observing the fine beauty of lines and shapes in natural growth forms one can begin to appreciate and reflect on the origins of traditional floral motifs. By gaining traditional knowledge and tools one is able to assimilate and develop these lines and shapes into beautiful designs and motifs.13 During this session we were introduced to coloring and painting patterns. The exercises included: 1234Radial symmetry. Islimi drawing exercises. Drawing leaf motifs. Qur'anic illumination. This part of the workshop became a group project using the octagon and star polygon sub-grid presented earlier in the workshop.

12

Ibid. p. 33 Ibid. p. 35

13

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3 Making Use of the Experience


Using the material from the workshop, I used the sixteen-fold rosette geometric design in a painting; and I drew another piece based on the Qur'anic illuminations using the static octagon and star polygon sub-grid presented earlier in the workshop. By applying my techniques and color themes, my work will take on a new, modern look based on the old traditions. These two pieces are printed on the last page of the paper. I am also planning a solo exhibition of which the new work will constitute one-third. I am working on the sketches now. I hope to meet a need for medium sized pieces that people can afford to purchase and that can also be printed in a limited number of copies to be sold to hotels, banks, and other institutions because original art work is always expensive. The other project is to print cards based on these Islamic designs for commercial uses inside the country for residents, and for the millions of pilgrims who come to Hajj (pilgrimage) every year. The cards could be bought as souvenirs of, or greeting cards from, the country. The cards could also be purchased by companies and banks for seasons greetings. Finally, I would like to mention that I was getting bored by the themes I was using, and lacked the ability to think about new ideas. This workshop inspired and motivated me to do more workshops and research in the subject. On page 8I have included three pieces from the work done. The first two pieces represent the biomorphic theme and the third represents my colored painting of a sixteen-fold rosette that each of the participants made.

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