The Seas and the Mobility of Islamic Art

Tracing the currents of change that unite the visual and material culture of the Islamic world across space and time

The seas have long served as both connective tissue for and barriers between intellectual, social, and artistic traditions. Nowhere is this dual role more evident than within the visual and material cultures of the Islamic world. This remarkable new book brings together an international group of scholars and curators whose contributions address seafaring mobility’s profound effect on Islamic art. Their case studies range across the globe and span a period from Islam’s 1st century to today. Contributors examine the roles of importation and migration, travel, diplomacy, and gift giving in driving artistic innovation and changing the social, political, and religious institutions of an increasingly diverse Islamic world. Taken together, these chapters embody a distinctive big-picture approach, pulling an exceptional diversity of voices and topics into productive dialogue.