Yale University Press, in association with Qatar Foundation (QF), Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts (VCUarts) in Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar (VCUarts Qatar), recently published a book on the research presented and panel discussions held at the 9th biennial Hamad bin Khalifa Symposium on Islamic Art.
The book bears the same title as the conference – “The Environment and Ecology in Islamic Art and Culture” – held at VCUarts Qatar, a QF partner university, in 2021.
The book was edited by three art history scholars, two of whom are VCUarts Qatar faculty members – Dr Radha Dalal, associate professor and director of Art History, and Dr Jochen Sokoly, associate professor of Art History.
Dr Sean Roberts, senior lecturer at the University of Tennessee Knoxville’s School of Art, is the third editor. The three scholars were also the co-chairs of the 2021 conference.
The topics explore the optimistic, sustainable, and innovative responses adopted by artists and builders across Islamic civilisation while acknowledging the often irreversible and escalating damage that necessitates such ingenuity.
As a whole, the volume considers how art historical, anthropological, and archaeological research on the Islamic world can engage with these concerns philosophically, methodologically, and, above all, practically.
Dr Dalal said, “An eco-conscious ethos has traditionally characterised Islamic scripture and culture. Historical and contemporary Islamic visual traditions have demonstrated this consciousness in urban planning, landscape architecture, water management, and a host of other art forms throughout Islamic lands, including in Qatar, and into the Muslim diaspora.”
