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Distributed for Hirmer Publishers

The Art of Orientation

An Exploration of the Mosque Through Objects

The Art of Orientation celebrates the origins, meanings, and functions of the mosque throughout the world using a careful selection of one hundred and twenty-five artifacts—including intricately designed pulpits, prayer rugs, lamps, and manuscripts. Tracing the evolution of the mosque from the Prophet’s humble mud-brick structure in Medina to the imposing stone assemblies of Cairo and Istanbul, an interdisciplinary group of leading Arab and international authors present a personal, insightful, and accessible survey of Islamic masterpieces past and present.  
 

300 pages | 200 color plates | 9 1/2 x 11 3/4 | © 2020

Art: Middle Eastern, African, and Asian Art

Religion: Islam


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Reviews

“The book should fill a real gap in contextual information, explaining the accoutrements of mosques and also their wide range of functions, as schools, hospitals, treasuries.”

Jane Jakeman | The Art Newspaper

"As the subtitle, An Exploration of the Mosque through Objects, suggests, the volume proposes to re-examine the mosque through a close reading of the artistic and social histories of the objects that inhabited its spaces, examining the history and development of the mosque through these artifacts rather than through its architecture. To this end, the editors have compiled a series of essays by scholars, architects, and artists that contextualize a selection of the exhibited artifacts."

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