The eighth biennial Hamad bin Khalifa Symposium on Islamic Art, which took place at VCUarts Qatar in Education City, was attended by more than 200 experts on Islamic art from around the world
One of the world’s most prestigious events on the Islamic art and architecture calendar, the 8th Biennial Hamad bin Khalifa Symposium on Islamic Art, recently took place at Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar (VCUarts Qatar) in Education City.
This year’s theme was, ‘The Seas and the Mobility of Islamic Art.’ It featured panel discussions and debates on subjects ranging from ‘Seas Imagined and Depicted in Middle Eastern Art, Maps and Geography’ and ‘Transoceanic Movement, Muslim-Centered Design, and Architecture in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries’ to ‘Islamic Art in 11th-14th Century Chinese Port Cities’.
Eminent scholars from institutions such as Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, SOAS University of London, University of Vienna, and University of Melbourne spoke at the Symposium, and it attracted more than 200 attendees over two days from Qatar and places as far afield as Canada, the USA and Australia, the largest ever attendance for the Symposium, which was established in 2004.
VCUarts Qatar’s Dean, Amir Berbić, said, “We have more than 40 participants, panel organizers, paper presenters, and fellows here from all over the world. With rich content, shared viewpoints and open discussions, and a concurrent gallery exhibition, this symposium is meant to be a vibrant forum of exchange for all participants and attendees.”
The Symposium co-chairs were VCUarts Qatar Art History professors Dr Radha Dalal, Dr Jochen Sokoly, and Dr Sean Roberts. The Art History program at VCUarts Qatar is the only undergraduate degree program of its kind in the Gulf region and offers a distinctive concentration in Islamic art within a global perspective. The program is designed to focus on the interchange between the Islamic World, the Western World and the non-Islamic cultures of Asia.
“In choosing the “Seas and Mobility” as this symposium’s theme, we hoped to provide a forum that encompassed the full range and global expanse of Islamic art and culture. The event proved more successful than we could have imagined in bringing together a group of speakers, panel chairs, and curators who were more diverse, younger, and more varied in their scholarly background than at previous symposia,” said Dr Sean Roberts, the Director of Art History at VCUarts Qatar and Symposium co-chair.
