Funerary tile, from the tombstone of a barber from a graveyard in Tehran. Featured on our Pots! page - to view details click Potteries Museum & Art Gallery |
The
newly-established Subject Specialist Network (SSN) for Islamic Art and Material
Culture invites you to participate in the Islamic Mapping Project.
This important and wide-ranging survey aims to gather, for the first time,
comprehensive data on the contents and locations of public collections of
Islamic art and material culture in the UK and Ireland, however large or
small. The survey has a very broad focus which encompasses all ceramics and
pottery historically produced anywhere in Islamic lands, and contemporary studio
ceramics made by Muslims or inspired by Islamic design.
Through this
survey we also hope to identify the types of support that may be needed among
all collections, but especially those with limited resources, staff, or
specialist curatorship. This will help the SSN identify areas of need, allowing
us to develop targeted workshops and seminars which will support museum
professionals working with collections that include Islamic art and material
culture.
Results of the
survey will be published on the SSN’s new website (to be launched in 2014),
where a dedicated series of pages will present the information gathered about
collections around the country.
So, if assessing
your institution's collection of Islamic art and material culture has long been
on the 'To Do' list, now is the moment to engage with the community of Islamic
art specialists nationwide by completing this questionnaire.
To find out more
and to participate in this unique effort to map all public Islamic collections
in the UK, please email islamicmappingproject@gmail.com to
be sent a unique link to the survey questionnaire. Support with filling in the
questionnaire and assistance with identifying any Islamic material in the
collections you work with is readily available by contacting the same
address.