The G. M. D. is one of those places where architecture, faith, and visual magnificence all meet at once. It feels almost otherworldly….like paradise rendered in gold, stone, and light.
Brilliantly nuanced overview of Islamic art, Rogue. I want to see more of it…visit mosques and palaces and absorb their visual atmosphere but the sacred is trying to avoid annihilation by the profane at the moment. I can hardly believe that we’ve lost the domed
mosque that had lived in Gaza for centuries. I can hardly believe that in April 2022 my husband’s son wanted to visit Gaza, but we missed the timing and now Gaza is no more. This world is populated by two types: creators and destroyers. And the destroyers are having their way. Thank you so much for sharing the beauty man has made throughout history day after day. It’s important to see and to know, and helps to counter the ugly narratives used to justify the wanton destruction happening today.
Thank you for this 🙏🏼 You said so much of what I’ve been feeling.
That’s why this feels so urgent right now. When a mosque, palace, manuscript, home, or archive is destroyed, we’re not just losing a building or an object. We’re losing generations of hands, memory, devotion, and beauty. The destroyers are loud, but they are never the whole story. The creators left us proof that human beings have always reached for something better.
That’s also why June’s next series will be Islamic Art, from the 7th century to the present, looking at monuments, material culture, continuity, innovation, and the complicated question of what we mean by “Islamic” art today.
I keep sharing the beauty because destruction should never get the final word.
In fact, I just started reading your latest post. I started weeping a few paragraphs into reading about Oceania and canoes, not for any particular reason aside from the loving care that you put into presenting the artistic past of so many cultures. I’m so grateful that you’re doing this for so many reasons. It’s a certain kind of despair, knowing that we’ve already lost so much and, given current circumstances, likely to lose so much more. You go far in taking the edge off by celebrating each culture, its art and architecture, in such a holistic way that reads as reverent through your compassionately professional academic language. I learn from you every day on numerous levels.
The imagery of the Great Mosque of Damascus is absolutely stunning!
It really is breathtaking!
The G. M. D. is one of those places where architecture, faith, and visual magnificence all meet at once. It feels almost otherworldly….like paradise rendered in gold, stone, and light.
Brilliantly nuanced overview of Islamic art, Rogue. I want to see more of it…visit mosques and palaces and absorb their visual atmosphere but the sacred is trying to avoid annihilation by the profane at the moment. I can hardly believe that we’ve lost the domed
mosque that had lived in Gaza for centuries. I can hardly believe that in April 2022 my husband’s son wanted to visit Gaza, but we missed the timing and now Gaza is no more. This world is populated by two types: creators and destroyers. And the destroyers are having their way. Thank you so much for sharing the beauty man has made throughout history day after day. It’s important to see and to know, and helps to counter the ugly narratives used to justify the wanton destruction happening today.
Thank you for this 🙏🏼 You said so much of what I’ve been feeling.
That’s why this feels so urgent right now. When a mosque, palace, manuscript, home, or archive is destroyed, we’re not just losing a building or an object. We’re losing generations of hands, memory, devotion, and beauty. The destroyers are loud, but they are never the whole story. The creators left us proof that human beings have always reached for something better.
That’s also why June’s next series will be Islamic Art, from the 7th century to the present, looking at monuments, material culture, continuity, innovation, and the complicated question of what we mean by “Islamic” art today.
I keep sharing the beauty because destruction should never get the final word.
With you 100%. And your last 3 sentences brought me to tears. Thank you for doing battle in exactly the way you are.
In fact, I just started reading your latest post. I started weeping a few paragraphs into reading about Oceania and canoes, not for any particular reason aside from the loving care that you put into presenting the artistic past of so many cultures. I’m so grateful that you’re doing this for so many reasons. It’s a certain kind of despair, knowing that we’ve already lost so much and, given current circumstances, likely to lose so much more. You go far in taking the edge off by celebrating each culture, its art and architecture, in such a holistic way that reads as reverent through your compassionately professional academic language. I learn from you every day on numerous levels.