Authors : Asghar Javani, Farzan Sojoodi and Maryam Dashtizadeh
Abstract: As the first collections of Islamic art were formed in Europe and then in America from the late 18th to the 20th century, our understanding of Islamic art is still affected by the legacy and dominant discourses of those first temporary exhibitions and interim collections of Islamic art in the West and the approaches taken by them. This study aimed to investigate the epistemological shift of Islamic art in early museums as founders of our existing knowledge and understanding of Islamic art. Though, an analysis of the literature related to exhibitions is presented and three dominant approaches of orientalism, art history and cross-cultural studies at museums are discussed as well as their consequences in reproducing meaning of Islamic art. The researche believes that domination of the mentioned approaches in early exhibitions and museums of Islamic art in the West has affected our understanding of Islamic heritage as “goods”, “art” and “multilayer object” and correspond to three distinct values, i.e., economic, aesthetic and symbolic, in Islamic art.
Asghar Javani, Farzan Sojoodi and Maryam Dashtizadeh, 2017. Epistemological Shift of Islamic Art in Museums. The Social Sciences, 12: 881-888.