Ceramics of the Islamic World - Case Study Example

Name Course Professor Date 1. D, The Evolution of Islamic Art Islamic art represents all artwork created in order to preserve the Islam faith. Most of these arts are produced in land generally ruled or owned by the Muslim community. Islamic art, therefore, is used by people who believe in Muslim faith to proclaim various messages across the world and bring people to understand the basics in Muslim faith. These arts are done by Muslim artists and used in teaching the Muslim faith. The work of art in Islam communities began in the 7th century. However, Islamic art is not just limited to expression of religious view of Muslims; it is also used in teaching about various aspects of life within Muslim community like wealth, brotherhood and social differences. The Muslims settled on lands that had their own artworks and traditions, as a result, there was a blend between two cultures, original Muslims and Iranian cultures, which came together to form the first piece of artwork by these two communities. Artists who worked in Iranian cultures continued their arts but now worked under Muslim leadership. Islamic art has shown brilliance in its presentation because choice of colors is always great and there is a good combination of form and design thereby creating an immediate response on the viewers. This kind of presentation has made Islamic art too hard to resist and it is clearly becoming one of the finest art works in history (Hillenbrand 33). Islamic artists have succeeded in combining both animal and human figures in their works making them more appealing. Motifs can be seen on decorated surfaces of objects forming part of the artwork or patterns (Fehervari 6). Islamic art evolved through several stages, some of which are discussed below Abbasid Period (750-1258) In this period, concentration of Islamic cultural and political views changed and people engaged in more activities in Iraq. It is during this period that better styles of art emerged and greater techniques came up which later spread all over the Muslim community influencing artworks to a great extent (Arnold 14). Two cities of Samarra and Baghdad all copied this new trend in arts. In Samarra, particularly, great advancements were made in art and painting as surfaces were curved in different ways, a technique later called beveled style. Later in the 10th century, political unity of Abbasid became weak, and it lost control over several sections of Iran and Egypt. An example of art work during this period is shown below: This is a representation of Samarra and shows. The beveled style can be depicted from this piece of work shown by smoothening of its surfaces. The Almohad and Almoravid Periods (1062-1269) As a new Islamic power, Almohad and Almoravid took part of Morocco in North Africa and established its capital at Marrakesh in 1062 (Metropolitan Museum of Art 30). They also took control at other parts of Africa in Algeria and Sahara. They did away with most Islamic arts and established their own in these territories. After establishing their territories, Almoravids later weakened and their part was taken by the Almohads. They schematized ornaments and utilized the use of designed geometry. Some outstanding works by Almohad are shown in the mosque built in Sevilla. An example of this period’s artwork is shown below: This is a fragment displaying an enormous image with gazelles and many other animals around it. It is an expression of the skills possessed by early Muslim artists. Ayyubid period (1171 – 1260) This period had its leadership in Salah al – Din. In his reigns he called an end to Fatimid Caliphate replacing it with Ayyubid. This artwork was majorly concentrated on metal works and used fragment design to decorate its works. They specialized in ceramics and metals in an attempt to decorate the Muslim culture and bring people to understand art work deeper. In addition, they took part in a lot of building activities, building different structures in Egypt and Syria. Their most outstanding work is in Cairo: the fortified citadels. In addition, they established higher institutions of learning to promote art work in the Muslim culture. An example of their work is shown below; This cylinder was made in the Ayyubid period and represented what the community used to keep ash for washing. It is also a representation of class in artwork especially regarding metalwork’s and ceramics. The Mamluk period (1250-1517) It followed the Ayyubid generation after the latter had failed in Egypt and Syria. There was outstanding artistically and painting work during this period with development skills in spices and silk usage. These were particularly employed to bring to the understanding of community members; the various artworks that could help unite people in that era and promote the Muslim community’s unity. Other than administering the Ayyubid’s system of slavery, the Mamluk established a free existing community in which no human trade was condoned, and as a result, art freedom was upheld giving rise to its great works. 2. C, Chaco canyon (Native American site, New Mexico) Chaco Canyon is a well-known archaeological site in Southwest America. It is found in a place called the Four Corners where four states of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah joins. This region’s native occupants were the Anasazi; however it is presently in ownership of Chaco Culture National Historical Park (CCNHP) (Noble 22). Study of this site started towards the end of 19th century. From that time, a lot of interest has developed in this site and many archaeologists have come to this place to excavate and find out more art information available there. Various studies have thus been carried out and a lot of research work proved that this site is an ideal historical site for archaeological information (Noble 48). Being a dry place, wood resources and vegetation is very scarce in Chaco Canyon. However, it rains sometimes and the river has plenty of water flowing from the surrounding cliffs which fills it, providing the only source of water in that place. This area supports no agricultural activities, however, around AD 800, the occupants developed some irrigation schemes in this place and various settlement projects which supported agriculture and enabled farming activities. The small villages in Chaco Canyon are referred to as small house sites (Fagan 12). A single house contains not more than twenty rooms and is not storybuilding. There are quite a number of such small house sites in Chaco Canyon and they were all built during the time of development of this place. However, there are better houses here with many story constructions made up of several rooms joining each other and complex construction entities. This site has variety of cultures and people housed here are exposed to all sorts to traditional lifestyles which also enhances its development. The road system in Chaco is good, and runs throughout the place connecting all small houses to the great ones and reaching to all corners in the site (Fagan 26). The network of roads in this placeis believed, to possess both religious and functional reasons. This implies that road networks in Chaco connect people and places for religious purposes as well as meeting for other kind of reasons. However, there were periods of drought and inadequacy in constructing new sites has been a major setback in foreseeing success and development of Chaco Canyon. Works cited Arnold, Thomas, W. Painting in Islam: A Study of the Place of Pictorial Art in Muslim Culture. Georgia: Gorgias Press LLC, 2004. Fagan, Brian, M. Chaco Canyon: Archaeologists Explore the Lives of an Ancient Society. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Fehervari, Geza. Ceramics of the Islamic World. Kuwait: I.B.Tauris, 2000. Hillenbrand, Robert. Islamic Art and Architecture. USA: Thames and Hudson, 1999. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Islamic Art in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1972. Noble, David, G. New light on Chaco Canyon. New York: School of American Research Press, 1984. Read More