From the Introduction:The intercontinental reach of Dar al-Islam, or the Islamic world, today touches all continents. This catalogue (like the exhibition it enhances) embraces this global reality to take the most expansive and inclusive vision of how many art practices have historically intersected with Islam and how they continue to do so. Through key works of art, this publication examines trade relationships between regions as well as intercultural exchanges within smaller geographic areas. It discusses a range of interactions between practitioners of many religions who supplied art within political entities, both of Islamic cultural majority and Islamic cultural minority?over centuries. Works in this publication hail from what is present-day Afghanistan, Algeria, Burkina Faso, China, Egypt, France, Indonesia, India, Iran, Iraq, Malaysia, Morocco, Myanmar, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Togo, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sudan, Syria, the United States of America, Uzbekistan and Zanzibar. Works illustrated and discussed here were created as recently as 2016 but also as early as the ninth century.Unlike countless other catalogues of Islamic art that have organized works of art by region, time period, medium (ink, silk, gold, etc.), or visual subject matter (pattern, figures, etc.), this publication introduces material through the window of the Five Pillars of Islam. Foundational to the life of devout Muslims are the five pillars, called arkan in Arabic. They are the profession of faith (shahada), daily prayers (salat), charity (zakat), ritual fasting for Ramadan (sawm) and pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj). These pillars are illustrated with objects related to their activity. After this basic introduction, works in this catalogue are organized into five contexts that intentionally resonate with the five pillars. The five contexts that frame the discussion of artwork in this catalogue are Elegant Epigraphy: Writing as Art; Internationalism: Now & Then; Hospitality: Fasting, Feasting & Fun; Architecture & Its Offspring and Modest Beauty: Dress, Fashion & Faith. These five contexts are intended to encourage readers to consider both what unites these works of art and what differentiates them.

Wondrous Worlds: Art and Islam through Time and Place

Arts & Photography

Paul, Katherine Anne

History & Criticism

Newark Museum

About the Author\nKatherine Anne Paul is the Virginia and William M. Spencer Curator of Asian Art at the Birmingham Museum of Art.\nBringing together the work of a rising star, global contemporary photographer Manjari Sharma, with the diverse historic collections of the Birmingham Museum of Art, this beautifully illustrated volume serves as an accessible primer to the arts of Hinduism by introducing nine of the most significant deities of the Hindu pantheon and their contemporary relevance in art and faith. These deities are Ganesha, Lakshmi, Brahma, Saraswati, Vishnu, Hanuman, Shiva, Durga and Kali. Sharma’s photographic series of these nine deities is titled Darshan. This book serves as a gateway to the ancient concept of darshan—a profound encounter of seeing and being seen by the divine. 
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The temporal and regional expansiveness of the Indic world is illuminated through works of art not only from India but also from Cambodia, Indonesia, Nepal, and Thailand in conversation with Sharma’s series. Furthermore, the volume details the multi-layered relationships between art and religions that promoted these deities even beyond Hinduism to be revered in Buddhist, Jain, Muslim and Sikh contexts. Additionally, dynamic exchanges between South and Southeast Asia are showcased. Illuminated map-timelines place the works featured in this catalogue in both physical and temporal spaces. Annual festivals that celebrate select deities are highlighted, demonstrating the depth and strength of the cultural foundation that supported the growth of Sharma’s work. 
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A conversation between the artist Sharma and renowned curator Bridget Bray of Asia Society Texas Center provides greater insight into the contemporary thoughts, challenges, and opportunities Sharma generated through her Darshan series. Angela May contextualizes other forms of contemporary artistic practice in Angkor, Cambodia, that responds to the UNESCO world heritage site. Finally, select case studies offer insights into institutional transparency, connoisseurship, and provenance for specific works featured in the volume. 
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Distributed on behalf of the Birmingham Museum of Art.

Expanding Darshan: Manjari Sharma, To See and Be Seen

Collections, Catalogs & Exhibitions

Birmingham Museum of Art

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