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Approaching Islam through the Arts. eudaemonia conferences Charlotte Fowler. The Purpose of the Arts. Education from ‘ educare ’ > to bring out. In the ancient world, education was a lifelong process; its structure was based on that worked out by the Greeks.
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Approaching Islam through the Arts eudaemonia conferences Charlotte Fowler
Education from ‘educare’ > to bring out • In the ancient world, education was a lifelong process; its structure was based on that worked out by the Greeks. • Before specialising all scholars had to complete the TRIVIUM (Grammar, Logic and Rhetoric) and then the QUADRIVIUM (Arithmetic, Geometry, Music and Astronomy) before going on to study Philosophy and Theology. • Students should first become expert communicators in their own and classical languages, then develop an understanding of the four ‘universal languages’ before beginning to process accumulated wisdom about the world and God. • The Arts were the languages of knowledge; tools through which to seek out truth and communicate it. The Arts are the processes of good education.
We still refer to those holding university degrees as ‘bachelors of arts’ or ‘masters of arts’. In the USA most students study ‘the liberal arts’ before specialising This goes back to the ancient belief that the literary, mathematical, musical and natural arts liberate us from subjectivity, and open the door to objective truth. Know the truth and the truth will make you free... Master of the ArtsAn Educated Person > Fully Human
Islam retained this traditional, rigorous and ideological approach to education for longer than ‘the west’. Although few Arabic schools (madrassas) and universities still aspire to the ancient standards, the relationship between scholarship and the arts remains in some places. Islam and the Arts
Questions 1Sixth Form General Studies / Critical Thinking"Logic is the anatomy of thought." John Locke • Explain the advantages and disadvantages of a longer, deeper process of education which demands that everybody has good common skills before specialising. • Assess the belief that grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy are the ‘languages of learning’. • Would you add or replace ‘languages’ in the light of the modern world? Why? Use a clip from the beginning of ‘Dead Poets Society’ (Peter Weir 1987) – first 25 minutes show different interpretations of education and its purposes – ultimately showing the liberating power of engaging with the arts.
In Islam, the Arts… • Are expressions of the truth through local and universal languages. • Artists must be deeply spiritual, philosophers but also musicians, mathematicians, lovers of nature and eloquent. • If the artist lacks substance or skill, the art is worthless. • Art must speak to its audience – and must speak of something that really matters. • The Islamic attitude to artists and the arts is a direct inheritance from Plato.
‘Traditional art asks the viewer to look at the work not as a personal expression of the artist but as the artist’s particular evocation of a universal principle.’ www.psta.org.uk
The Prince’s School of Traditional Artswww.psta.org.uk • The School is the only one in the world to specialise in traditional arts. • The school does outreach work with universities in other countries – in many cases re-teaching the traditional arts of the host countries. • All students start with a course in geometry which leads them into a broader consideration of the philosophy behind traditional arts, the real purpose of art. • They come to understand that the process of producing art is as important – if not more important – than the end product and that the product is only as important as the thought and skill that went into it. • All the work is done by hand – computers are used as a tool but are not enough in themselves – detail and oversight is always added by the artist
“It is important, perhaps, to remember that the beauty of form, pattern and colour (as manifested in Islamic and other Traditional Arts) is not just aesthetically pleasing, but representative of a more profound universal order. The point is that the intricate and subtle patterns of Nature transcend the purely decorative realm and embody a profound and timeless beauty.” HRH The Prince of Wales (at the opening of the Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art at the V&A, 18 July 2006)
Questions 2Y10-11 PSHE or Art, 6th Form General Studies, Philosophy, Critical Thinking, Art • What makes art valuable? • The time/skill it takes to make, its rarity, its decorative value, its value as a conversation-starter, the number of people who want it divided by the amount available, status/price? • What is art for? • Is it purely the self-expression of the artist or commissioner – or is there a broader cultural, social even philosophical dimension?
Questions 2 (cont.) 3) What is the point of expressing something if it only relates to you? • What makes communications from other people meaningful, valuable? 4) Think of modern art-forms which seem to speak to an exclusive audience and others which speak more widely – is it right that only more ‘universal’ art-forms should be taught and publicly subsidised? • Rank in order of ‘value’ - graffiti (pictures e.g. ‘Banksy’), commercial R&B music, ‘tagging’, customised trainers/t-shirts, hand-decorated china, nail-art, street dancing, unsigned local music, tattoo/body art, free-jumping. Justify your order.
Pre-Islamic Art • In Arabia at least, could be described as rather primitive, childish. • Art was representational, decorative – the material rather than the form was often significant. • Was a way for the rich to demonstrate their wealth – to be able to buy time to be used for frivolous ends was a luxury.
Mohammed p.b.u.h • Rejected expenditure on frivolities while people went hungry. • Despised ‘status symbols’ and activities which distracted people from facing up to and working to resolve the ills of their society. • Reacted against ‘images’ – superficial representations of things which made people neglect and even be dissatisfied with reality. • Mohammed believed that images stand between people and true submission to God…
Questions 3KS3-4 PSHE, RE 1) What ‘images’ do we worship today? • Do ‘images’ make us neglect and/or feel dissatisfied with reality? • Can we avoid making and worshipping images? 2) What ‘Status Symbols’ do you have or do you aspire to? • How do/will they make you feel? • Is it true that the business of chasing after status symbols and the anxiety caused by not having them is a distraction from more important things? 3) What decorative ‘frivolities’ do we spend money on today? • What effect might giving them up have on us and on our ability/willingness to help others?
Islamic Art • Was initially much simpler. • The prophet’s message of reform had later parallels in the Christian movements of Protestantism and Puritanism. • He may have approved of the Shaker/Quaker approach to the arts, which was later advocated by the Arts and Crafts movement. ‘Have nothing in your house which you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful’ • Buddhists teach a similar message – pointing out that attachments to objects are a cause of suffering ‘dukkha’.
This statue by Anthony Gormley (called ‘Capacitor’) evokes the many connections or attachments we all have – and their effects. i. What attachments do you have? ii. Why might the Buddha have said that ‘suffering comes from our attachments’ (tanha) iii. What could you do to reduce this suffering? iv. Which attachments should go first? Last? AttachmentsKS2-3 PSHE – could be used with older groups as a starter.
In 1832-4 Henry David Thoreau left his job as a teacher to lead a simple life by Walden Pond (near Concord, Boston, Massachusetts) He built a tiny cabin and then only worked to pay for what he really needed – about 25 days per year. He famously said ‘I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life…’ he observed that ‘the mass of men live lives of quiet desperation’, enslaved by their belief that they need things and to work for things. He concluded that ’I want to crow like chanticleer in the morning, if only to wake my neighbours up…’ and did so in effect by demonstrating the simple alternative… There is a great parallel with Mohammed’s quest to make life simple and honest, to free people from their enslavement to property and maintaining an image. Attachments (2)KS4-5 PSHE, Philosophy, General Studies
Spend 15 minutes writing a personal budget – note your income and its sources and what you spend your money on. Consider how long it takes you to earn the money to sustain your current lifestyle – note that you may have to do certain things even to ‘earn’ pocket money… Do you really need all the things you buy? Are these things worth the time you put into earning them? Now go on to consider how you might budget when you leave University… Start by noting down what you expect to be able to do and afford at this stage in your life… How much would you expect to earn after earning a good degree? Where would you live? Would you drive, what? How much would you spend on clothes and going out? Your teacher will give you some facts and figures – do they change your expectations? You will be pleased to hear that having a degree means that you will have a reasonable chance of earning a lot more after 5-10 years than you would otherwise! Attachments… An ActivityKS4-5 PSHE, Citizenship
The earliest visual expression of Islamic belief… • Was distinctive and unadorned dress for both men and women… • Simple communal housing and empty worship-spaces… • Clear kufic calligraphy in copies of the Qur’an
As Islam Expanded • Things got rather more complicated, but Islam did not lose the idea that decoration for its own sake was unnecessary. • Islamic Arts, though rich and developed in time, were employed to explore and express the truths of Islam rather than to obscure or sweeten them.
Muslims believe that the universe, in all its infinite variety and complexity, was created by and is sustained by a single eternal God, Allah. The Cosmological Argument - the Universe seems infinite and yet rationally actual infinity is impossible and God is necessary. There is a gap between how things seem superficially and how we can come to understand that they really are. Vision must be understood, extended, supported by reason. Art is not duplicating superficial images or decoration for its own sake – it aims to communicate insight, understanding of the Universe. Allah – The World
Islamic Art is characterised by a use of pattern. Pattern is not just decorative, it is designed to draw our eyes and minds into a deeper understanding of reality. Islamic Art is not about representing the superficial appearance of things, trying to capture normal experience – it is about exploring the foundations of our reality, the level which is closest to its creator, God. Islamic patterns often feature a deliberate mistake – to show that the artist is not seeking to be a God in producing perfection. Pattern
Pattern Mathematics through Islam • Examining and discussing patterns can raise some interesting, open philosophical questions… • What is real and how do we access the real? • Why is the natural world underpinned by mathematical pattern? • How do we explain the fact that humans can understand this level of reality? • Do the abstract patterns we use to represent the world we see do its reality justice? • Doing some basic geometry can be a way into considering the bigger questions in Mathematics • What are numbers? • How do we explain the presence of rules in nature?
The process and experience of constructing patterns can be a real learning experience for children. Our children have so little opportunity to focus on doing one thing perfectly. Reflection at the end of a period spent making a pattern can draw out their experience into an understanding of the satisfaction that focussed work can bring. Making Time for Reflection: Learning from Pattern
Activities… • Making a pattern inspired by a natural object. Try a pom-pom chrysanthemum or sunflower, pointed broccoli, a snail shell, photographs of fish-scales or of light filtering through leaves. • Display the patterns next to their inspiration – ask… • How are the two connected together? • Do the abstract patterns really exist in the object, or is it just how we are looking at the object? • Do the patterns make the object easier to understand? • How do we explain the existence of these patterns in natural objects? EXTENSION: Draw in some information about Fibonacci Numbers – evidence of design or evolution? If evolution, what does the existence of such pattern say about the nature of our world and of numbers?
Submission to Allah • The business of being a Muslim begins with the declaration of faith, the ‘shahadah’, and is a continual process of exploring and experiencing its truth. • ‘Ashaduan la ilaha il-allahu wa Muhammadar rasulullah’‘I believe there is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is the Messenger of Allah’
Although the Shahadah seems simple, understanding it, meaning it, is the most difficult thing of all. Much Islamic Art explores the connection between complexity and an underlying oneness Look at examples of Islamic Architecture and try to see how this is being worked out. Awe and wonder…
Islamic Garden Design…One creation in all its complexity • The overall garden should have a sense of unity, often achieved through colour, repetitive planting and the use of a simple palette of materials.. • Within the Garden, the elements of earth, air, fire and water are displayed – usually through clever use of sunlight and shade, filters for the air and winds in terms of carved screens and screens of plants, trellises etc and plenty of water features – both moving and still. • The garden may be laid out like a maze in a medieval cathedral – showing a complex path through to a focus, which suggests contemplation and looking up to God.
Ask students to work in a small group to produce a design for a local park. The space should include a garden and a pavilion, providing a covered space which could be used for art and sculpture exhibitions concerts and poetry readings - and for people to sit quietly at other times. The Council has asked that the space should be inspired by Islam and should encourage people to think and spend time being quiet The plot is rectangular – 100 meters by 250 meters. The pavilion should be no more than 150 meters squared and only 1 storey. As well as an overall plan for the space the group should produce a detailed design for the pavilion, a ‘mood board’ explaining the theme for planting and the materials to be used for walls, paths etc. The group should finally prepare a 10 minute presentation of their ideas to Council officials and be prepared to answer questions… Islamic Design ActivityKS2, 3 or 4 Art, DT or RS(Ideal for a cross-curricular, off-timetable event)
Believing in a single creator and sustainer God means putting faith in an unimaginably great reality. Considering the complexity of the world, even within our limited experience, is fascinating in the true sense of the word and leads to a sense of awe. It makes us feel small but part of an infinitely detailed creation in which every tiny thing matters. Early Islamic Scholars spent their lives studying the stars and the underlying patterns in nature – the phases of the moon, the tides, the winds… Spend time looking at a one detailed aspect of nature – the easiest might be to focus on a small patch of ground on a playing field, but alternatively look up at the night sky or down into a rock-pool. How does appreciating the detail make you feel? Mysterium Tremendum…
The Night of PowerLailat al Qadr (27.Ramadan) • Islam began with the revelation of the holy Qur’an to Mohammed. • This powerful religious experience sustained the prophet for the rest of his life. • The story and importance of the word of Allah coming to Mohammed has inspired many Muslim artists… • A good shorter reflective exercise could be to ask students to produce an image of the night of power, without using representations of people or animals.
Muslims all over the world find that they are drawn into a meditative, peaceful state when concentrating on the detail and rhythm of things. Such concentration helps to focus the mind and draw it out of itself, to block out distraction and suffering. Pattern is a feature of every aspect of a muslim life… Prayer, both marking the rhythm of the day and in its own rhythmic postures (rakat) and words. Ramadan and Hajj marking out the passing of the year. Zakat marking the routine of receiving and giving. The Pattern of Life:The Art of Being a Good Muslim
The Pattern of Our Lives • A useful exercise, which could draw together learning about and from Islam in RE with themes in PSHE and even PE, would be asking children to describe and reflect on the patterns in their lives. • Describe your daily routine, the pattern of a school week, the things that happen every year. How do these patterns and routines make you feel? • Why might patterns and routines be important to religious people? To sportsmen and sportswomen? To all people?
The true meaning of the word ‘jihad’ is ‘struggle’. For most Muslims, the struggle is that to make their beliefs the centre of their lives, to make them real. Routine – in behaviour, prayer, pattern of life, even dress, is important as it continually reminds the believer of the demands of their beliefs. The Struggle
Alien to our culture? • Although Islamic dress, particularly as it relates to women, is often portrayed as alien to our culture it is worth thinking about things in a longer time-frame… • Islamic and ‘western’ societies shared a demand for modest dress for centuries – Indeed English women sought out Muslim women in 17th and 18th Century India because they felt more comfortable with modestly dressed women than with Hindu women who dressed more casually.
One suggestion is that Muslim dress is Medieval and that women should embrace the 21st century in casting off their veils. Is 21st century liberalism really about insisting on wearing less though? Surely the whole point of developments in fashion is to encourage individual expression and challenge ‘rules’ about dress? Certainly, western liberals have a concern about women being forced to wear Islamic clothing – or indeed to do anything… Yet women often choose to dress modestly and to adopt the cultural interpretation of Islamic standards which they feel comfortable with and which expresses their roots. Have things moved on?
Hussein Chalayan Turkish Cypriot, based in London. Graduate of Central St Martin’s – has own Fashion Label and has worked for companies such as Asprey’s. Has courted controversy by using his work to comment on the relationship between Islamic and ‘western’ culture. His work skirts around the psychological and political implications of dressing in certain ways…
Rifat Ozbek Turkish designer, based in London and another graduate of Central St. Martin’s. Well known for producing clothes inspired by Islamic Cultures – has worked with Monsoon.
The origins of ‘hijab’ or modest dress as it applies particularly to women may be said to lie in the situation that the prophet faced in the early years of Islam. The prophet prayed for guidance on how to protect his wives from the intrusions of followers who wanted to get close to him and enemies who wanted to get revenge on him by insulting his family. Allah revealed the truths that public figures must cast a veil or partition between their private and public lives and that Muslims should dress distinctively to be recognisable to both friend and foe – and that all Muslims should stand up for others as they would for memebers of their own family. Ummah means ‘brotherhood’ – all muslims, male and female, are members of this. Veils and Partitions
The holiness of the Ka’aba is protected with a veil, the Qiswa. This is reminiscent of the curtain that shielded the Holy of Holies in The Jerusalem Temple? The veiled Ka’aba
Islamic Music Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (Pakistani Qawwali) ‘Allah, Mohammed, Char, Yah’ Abida Parween(Pakistani female singer, influenced by singing at sufi shrines – setting of a Ghazal, a tradtional love poem) ‘Tere Ishq Nachaaya’
