By Sharon White Islamic Art plays a vital role in the way of life called Islam. Islam,
extending from the Africa to Asia creates a unique scope of artistic
concepts. This diversity, however, is contained within a somewhat, restricted
framework of techniques. Here I use the term restricted very
loosely, as each individual technique can be applied in such a way as
to achieve an almost infinite number of transformations, for any given
art form. I will be discussing this in more detail during the course
of this essay. Before moving on to discuss the huge variety we find in Islamic Art
and the factors which unite this huge concept, I think it is important
to clarify what this concept of Islamic Art is. The term Islamic generally refers to purely religious expressions,
such as calligraphy. Is it art created by Muslims? Or alternatively, is it art created by
people residing in countries where the dominant religion is Islam? Or
should it be confined to the literal meaning of the word Islamic?
The word Islamic means, of Islam. It is an expression used to
describe the object in question, as being something which complies
with the beliefs and values of the religion, Islam. I will be using
the latter description, to describe the term Islamic Art. As a
result, all figural works of art will not be included in this study.
The reason for this being evident in the following saying of the
Prophet Muhammad in which he condemned artists who try to ape the creation of God: in their afterlife they will be ordered to
give life to their works and will suffer from their incapacity to do
so. Muslim artists transformed everyday objects into artistic
masterpieces. Islamic Art is therefore, inexhaustibly diverse, with an almost
infinite number of art forms. Variety is plentiful as it is, but if we break down each art form and
analyze the multiplicity we find within the realms of that particular
artistic expression, we find the world of Islamic Art expanding even
further. As I mentioned earlier, certain restrictions are present,
creating a framework within which Islamic Art is applied. The
elements used to achieve this include, arabesque, calligraphy and
geometry. This may seem like a limited number of styles to work with,
reducing the diversity which can be achieved, however, this
restriction, far from impoverishing the expression of Islamic artists,
resulted in the raising of abstract design into an art form, not only
of enormous wealth. Looking at the fascinating field of calligraphy, we find that many
different scripts have evolved in various regions of the Muslim world,
over a vast expanse of time. These scripts range from Kufic,
Naskhi, Thuluth and Diwani. It is clear from this that this
particular element of Islamic Art is almost inexhaustible, given the
various types of Arabic script and the extension of the Islamic
culture. Geometrically, each pattern being generated by a unique and complex
system of numbers. The unique nature of the patterns produced
implies the plurality present. No two patterns are the same,
therefore, gaining a diverse attribute. One can delve deeper into the
spirituality connected with Islamic Art by allowing oneself to
contemplate a geometric pattern and allow the gaze to become soft and
not attempt to fix it, the patterns endlessly mutate into different
geometrical arrangements. The vastness we begin to encounter within Islamic Art becomes quite
unimaginable, extending as far as one allows it to extend. One
geometric Expression, such as the ceiling of the Comates Hall in
Alhambra, is quite different to another, such as the detail found
on the minbar in the Arslanbane Mosque in Ankara. Haven explored the extent to which this diversity reaches, it is
important to try and understand the reasons behind this occurrence. Both contributing factors are mentioned here; space and time. The
various styles evolved over long periods of time, with each generation
adding to the diversity in the environment. With the Islamic
civilization gradually expanding to cover a large area of land,
enveloping many cultures, a series of local styles were added to
Islamic Art. The article was produced by the member of masterpapers.com.
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