JAVA SCRIPT

Despite Indonesia being the planet’s most populous Muslim nation, it produces remarkably little art with religious content. Agus Baqul Purnomo is a Javanese artist whose work goes beyond the usual written exclamation of God’s name. He focuses on popular prayers and entire verses from the Qur’an, treating them in a way that has helped spread his message beyond his own country.

It is as rare for contemporary art of an Islamic nature to be displayed in Malaysia as it is to find it being created in Indonesia. The most regionally aware gallery in Kuala Lumpur has long been Valentine Willie Fine Art. Since VWFA is promoting Agus, there’s a chance of a resurgence of spiritual art in Southeast Asia. Even the title of the exhibition gives a clear impression of what is coming next. ‘Recite! (Iqra!)’ is the name of the show as well as being a root of the word Qur’an. It turns up frequently in the holy book and gives an immediacy to the Qur’an that is not found in all works of scripture; it is God’s personal command to believers.

These are abstract works that incorporate calligraphy in an unconventional way. Rather than aiming for the centre stage that calligraphers tend to seek for their writing, there is more of a rough-and-ready approach. The result is a greater sense of movement than is usually seen with Arabic script. An essential difference between the two civilisations that have placed the greatest importance on writing as art – China and the Islamic world – is the instrument of calligraphy. Chinese art, being written with a brush, has usually been a more fluid expression than Arabic, which is traditionally executed with a reed pen.

Agus Baqul’s work exudes the energy of graffiti. The formation of the words with a brush, in acrylic, gives them a rare spontaneity and, at two metres high, the canvases have an almost wall-like quality. The combination of texture and rhythm creates a look of artfully arranged mayhem which makes them unique in the Islamic world. Not even in Iran, which has done more with calligraphy than might be thought possible, has the same sense of movement been accomplished with words that are usually set in stone.

'Recite! (Iqra'!)' at Valentine Willie Fine Art, Kuala Lumpur. Until 5 September




A BOARD CANVAS

A similar theme to Agus Baqul Purnomo’s ‘Insha’allah’ (God Willing) prayers on canvas are ‘Insha’allah’ surfboards. Part of a project on display at Breenspace gallery in Sydney, this exhibition of Islamic-themed surfboards is unprecedented. Islam and surfing are two worlds that rarely meet. In Sydney, there have been violent clashes of cultures between ‘white’ surfers and mainly Muslim youths. It has been a trying time for Sydney’s true surfing community, a group that is committed to harmony and oneness with the world and the wave.

Australian artist Phil George’s solution has been to create a series of surfboards called ‘Borderlands’, which were greeted with enthusiasm at this year’s Art Dubai festival. With Islamic designs imprinted on them, these boards really embody two worlds. There is surfing culture: easy-going attitude and not too much concern about being fully dressed. Then there is Islamic culture: more emphasis on covering up, less of the relaxed attitude.
‘Borderlands’ looks for some common ground.

Being the well-travelled and Islam-friendly individual that he is, the artist immediately reminds us that his boards are not meant for walking, surfing or any activity other than being viewed. They stand, like primeval sculptures, and that is all they are supposed to do. The impression is in some ways unnerving. Despite most of them being very much more colourful than the average cemetery, they impart the feeling of gravestones.

In their quiet, totemic way they show the universality of much Islamic design. Most viewers won’t know they are looking at motifs that have been inspired by the artist’s countless visits to mosques and other buildings of the Middle East. There is geometry and there are arabesques along with the tree and life and calligraphy. They are mostly filled with colour and all are oven baked to make them luminous as well as durable.

The boards make a vivid statement about the transfer of cultures. The non-calligraphic versions could also be mass produced for the new type of surfer chick that is beginning to emerge in Australia. Muslim women surfers and lifeguards have become a surprising feature of beach life. No doubt they will eventually be able to coordinate their surfboards perfectly with the ultra-modest beachwear known as a ‘burqini’.

Borderlands by Phil George, at the Breenspace Gallery, Sydney



TURKEY

Turkey is staking a claim to some of the cultural cachet that the Gulf has been trying to acquire in recent years. The 11th International Istanbul Biennial goes beyond the glamour of some rival art expos in the Middle East and takes a serious look at issues. The concept of the latest biennial is taken from Bertholt Brecht’s Threepenny Opera and asks the question ‘What keeps mankind alive?’ Taking the alternative approach one step further, the announcement of the concept was not issued in the form of a press release; instead it was delivered as a dramatic performance on a stage, under the supervision of a Croatian theatre director. As a coup de grace, the curators comprise four women.



Whatever the art shows, the biennial shows what a complex place Turkey is. Observers who see the country as a simple battleground between secularists and Islamists should look at the ideology behind the biennial. It’s all about value systems and there’s a fair amount of creaking Sixties idealism rising to the surface. The aim is to make the viewer a more productive participant, going as far as using the word “accomplice”. Anyone who yearns to rediscover the message of Brecht and Old Left rhetoric can fully engage in this concept, which does have the good grace to laugh at itself. Nothing could be much further than the creative approach happening in the Gulf. The artists are equally different from the mainstream to the south and serve as a useful reminder that art in the Islamic world is not entirely about the Arab and Iranian spheres of influence. Also, how close Turkey feels to Europe...



Istanbul International Biennial, 12 September to 8 November



Greece

In neighbouring Greece, the Islamic activity has been subdued for a long time, but there is an exciting exhibition starting this month with an Islamic connection. M.C. Escher is among the most famous Dutch artists of the 20th century and his playful drawings are known to everyone who has ever browsed in a calendar shop. At the Hxxxx Museum is a definitive display of xxxxx, including many of the works that Escher himself admitted a debt to the culture of Moorish Spain. The latest exhibition at this fascinating museum is the fourth in a series dedicated to Escher. It explores his use of colour, which is also inspired by Al-Andalus, although it is his geometrical genius that is most clearly derived from the tiles he admired at monuments such as Alhambra in Granada.

Although Escher is generally remembered for his extraordinary monochrome works which distort space, they acquire an extra dimension with the application of colour. This meant additional work for the artist, who needed to make extra woodcut blocks, but the results are stunning. They were created to satisfy his own quest for understanding colour combinations and none was ever intended for sale.


‘Escher in Colour’ at the Herakleidon Museum, Athens. Ends 15 November




Exhibitions of traditional Islamic art are sparse at the moment, although a promising one is opening this month in Washington DC. ‘Falnama: The Book of Omens’ takes a look at the somewhat neglected field of divination. Although not an entirely orthodox area of Muslim belief, it makes for a visual fiesta. Astronomy, astrology and dream interpretation came together in manuscripts known as Falnama, which were especially popular in 16th and 17th century Iran and the Ottoman empire. These large-format books were illustrated with all the brilliance of the time, which was a highpoint for the art of miniature painting.



‘Falnama’ at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. From 12 September 2009 to 3 January 2010


Jameel Prize

This is the last month to see the art event that has been described as “the Islamic art world's equivalent to the Turner prize.” The winner of the Jameel International Art Prize is Afruz Amighi has been chosen as the winner of the Jameel international art prize, touted as, for her painting 1001 Pages. Nine artists were shortlisted for the award, worth £25,000, whose work the panel judges to 'contribute to a broader debate about Islamic culture'. Zaha Hadid, patron of the Jameel prize, hopes the biannual event will inspire future generations of contemporary Muslim artists. Shortlisted works can be seen in a temporary display gallery at the Victoria and Albert Museum until 12 September 2009
Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel got a bargain with his sponsorship of this biennial event, with its first prize of GBP25,000. It has generated a lot of publicity. GBP5.5 million for the Jameel Gallery at the V&A.

SOMETHING OLD

The finial from Tipu Sultan’s throne at Bonhams was among the auction season’s highlights

The biannual round of Islamic-art auctions took place again last month, and they were far from being clearance sales. Prices may have been down at the lower end, and there were plenty of unsold lots, but there were enough high rollers around to keep the market afloat. The star attraction at Sotheby’s turned out to be the cover lot that I discussed last month. This luminously lovely piece of 14th century Mamluk glass fetched GBP1.6 million, accounting for approximately one third of the sale tota. Many other objects made good prices, although few went past the GBP100,000 barrier. One of the more intriguing items that failed to sell was a 19th century portrait of the Imam Ali and family. Painted in monochrome, the numerous members of this lugubrious-looking ensemble do not have a smile between them; the only cheery presence is a grinning wolf in the foreground.
Sotheby’s took a more substantial gamble ahead of its London sale by testing the market in Qatar. It was a bold move in a slightly different location from the now rather predictable setting of Dubai. The number of pieces was small and the quality high, but the timing was not good – except for Safavid velvet. A rare panel in superb condition, depicting the unusual subject of ladies out hunting, went for 10 times its estimate to fetch US$3.4 million. Only four other lots were sold at the auction, although it has to be said that the entire lineup was very select.
Back in London, the other auction house that generated some excitement was Bonhams. As elsewhere, the standard offerings were received with little enthusiasm. A few items did extremely well. Among these was a curtain that would originally have hung from the Ka’ba in Mecca. This fetched more than GBP200,000. A large number of similar ‘burqas’ have been appearing on the market over the past few years, and many of them have turned out to be fakes. Still, the demand is insatiable for these supremely sacred objects, and when a confidence-inspiring example turns up, the prices can go very high. Kiswahs such as this one, ordered by the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II in 1828, are a reminder of how the Ka’bah used to feature more than just the black and gold that we see now. In the past, red and green were also included.
The most highly priced lot at Bonhams was a gold finial from the octagonal throne of Tipu Sultan. Sold for almost GBP400,000, it proved to be the most important piece of memorabilia from the Tiger of Mysore to appear at auction for a long time. The romantic appeal of the gem-encrusted, tiger-shaped object was heightened by having been part of Tipu’s golden throne, which the ruler vowed he would never use until he had his kingdom of the British. When his enemies defeated Tipu instead, the throne was dismantled for booty, an act that greatly upset the governor-general at the time, the future Duke of Wellington.






SOMETHING NEW

Tahira Kites and Shattered Dreams’ (60x70cm) by Maysaloun Faraj

In addition to all the major Islamic-art auctions, London has been the venue for a variety of Middle Eastern contemporary-art exhibitions lately. One that deserves special mention is Maysaloun Faraj’s ‘Boats and Burdens: Kites and Shattered Dreams’. Taking place in the somewhat unlikely environs of Fulham High Street, the show is at the Aya Gallery, which has been quietly working to promote mainly Iraqi artists for many years.
The artist expresses her motivation in terms that are quite familiar: “Having left Iraq in 1982, a land in which I am deeply rooted and a people whom I dearly love, it was humanity and the human condition that interested and concerned me most. As an Iraqi, an Arab and a Moslem woman with an East/West upbringing, it is conflict, war, injustice, human rights, human wrongs and beauty lost that informs much of my work today.” Despite this depth of rather grown-up feeling, the works have serenity and a certain naivety on their side. In addition to evocative works in oil on canvas, Maysaloun Faraj has taken the less explored route of studio ceramics. The use of Arabic calligraphy on these pieces creates an eye-catching juxtaposition.
The exhibition was opened by Venetia Porter, who has done more than most to bring contemporary Middle Eastern art to the world. The exhibition that she curated at the British Museum in 2006, ‘Word into Art’, was perhaps the most formative event in this area ever staged. From the publicity point of view, however, the award would have to go to the media master Charles Saatchi. His new gallery near Sloane Square is the venue for ‘Unveiled: New Art from the Middle East’, which seems to have been the first time the majority of art writers in Britain had ever encountered works from the region. Many were shocked by the sophistication, and worried at the same time that they might have entered a potential Danish cartoon maelstrom.
The Saatchi exhibition ends on 9 May and will no doubt surprise those who see it before it closes. Unlike the subtle and usually small-scale works of calligraphy on display at ‘Word into Art’, this is the Middle East transformed by the aesthetics of Hoxton Square. It’s like YBAs reborn with the same attitude but different issues. As always, there are plenty of Iranian artists and no shortage of comment on the role of women in traditional Muslim societies. If visitors are looking for a really huge impression, then Kadir Attia’s ‘Ghost’ is guaranteed to do the job. This haunting vision of ranks of women at prayer wearing Bakofoil chadors is well worth seeing. Most remarkably, entry to all Saatchi exhibitions is free.
Also in London, the energetic Xerxes Gallery has two exhibitions that opened at the end of April. This is immediately after a very short exhibition of works by Lelyly Matine-Daftary, one of the best-connected of Iran’s modern artists, being the daughter and the granddaughter of Iranian prime ministers. For the month of May, continuing until 17 July, there is ‘Breaking the Mould’, a project by Mahmoud Kalari and Ali Rahbar, and Ali Adjalli’s ‘Retrospective’, The former offers some interesting photographic perspectives – and chadors aplenty. The sight of black-clad women carrying huge Farsi letters through the desert with a remarkable blue sky is dazzling and unexpected. Ali Adjalli takes a more painterly approach with acrylic on canvas. The works are fundamentally calligraphic but taking a distinctive approach of dense, interlocking script that is at the same time liberating to look at.
In the other leading centre of Middle Eastern art, the Gulf, the Heritage House Gallery celebrates its first anniversary this month. Based in Dubai, this venue has gone beyond the usual paintings and sculptures to specialise in mosaic and stained glass as well. By the standards of the region, the building is very historic indeed, having been constructed in 1925. Ending on 23 May are two exhibitions by Iranian artists Jamshid Bayrami and Mehdi Saeedi.
Bayrami is known around the world for his photojournalism, which has appeared in magazines such as Time and The Economist. For the exhibition ‘Haj’, he has turned his lens towards Mecca, which he photographed extensively in 2006. The results are among the most captivating images of an event that is already filled with drama on a huge scale. The combination of a photographer and a calligrapher seems a popular formula at the moment. Mehdi Saeedi is an accomplished calligraphy, albeit with the inevitable twist in the tail of his letters. Using the visual opportunities presented by the dancing and sensual nature of the Arabic script, he provides a wholly conceptual approach to create the notions of movement, speed, velocity, space and colour, and to create a variety of optical illusions that are reminiscent of Bridget Riley.
A more established gallery in Dubai, The Third Line, has an exhibition ending 21 May. Once again the artist is Iranian, although he has been living in California for many years. This second solo exhibition of paintings by Amir H. Fallah is a humorous investigation into the grey area of memory and monument. Each painting in ‘Make It Believe’ weaves narrative threads together, collected from Fallah’s personal experiences, art history, pop culture or invented recollections. This is the last show at the Third Line’s warehouse gallery space before it moves to the Shelter in Al Quoz.

SOMETHING TO BORROW?

Spink publishes Omer Diler’s definitive work on Islamic coins

Great books on Islamic coinage are a rare phenomenon. The latest publication from Spink sets a new standard in the field. ‘Islamic Mints’ by Omer Diler is the definitive book, encompassing three volumes and costing GBP225. Work began in the 1970s, when Diler decided to research every mint in Islamic history, from the 7th to the 20th century. From the beginning the author had doubts whether this could be accomplished in his lifetime; and he was right about this. He died four years ago, but the 2,000-page book has now been published. It includes almost 2,000 mint names, mint inscriptions and minting years. Gold, silver and bronze issues are all covered.
Islamic numismatics is still a neglected field. Used primarily by historians, there is now growing awareness of their aesthetic value. As vehicles of calligraphic expression, they play an important role. For those seeking the sort of sculptural quality of ancient Greek or Roman coins, there will be considerable disappointment. For those who see the written word as the supreme expression of Islamic sensibilities, coins are a vital resource. At last there is a comprehensive survey of the field.

SALE SEASON

The first thing that anyone, including the postman, is going to notice about the latest Islamic-art sales is the size of the catalogues. They are about half the size of six months ago. The estimates seem smaller too, and in general there are fewer of the premium lots that have been attracting big prices over the past few years. Last out of the printer with its catalogue, but with the most exciting single offering, is Sotheby’s.

The cover lot is an object of exceptional rarity, with a provenance that is equally impressive. This time last year, Sotheby’s sold what was for a while the most expensive work of Islamic art ever. The supposedly Abbasid-dynasty Ka’aba key has been returned by the purchaser, but now the auction house has another item that should generate considerable excitement. This time it will be on aesthetic grounds while the main attraction of the key was historical.

Sotheby’s star lot is a 14th century Mamluk glass vessel known as the ‘Rothschild Bucket’. Anything with a provenance from that family is off to a good start. Two years ago there was Mamluk glass mosque lamp as the cover lot, without a Rothschild provenance. That one had to be withdrawn after some authenticity issues were expressed. The ‘bucket’ was in fact once catalogued as “Probably France, second half 19th century”, but in the past few years chemical analysis has shown the blue enamel to have been made from lapis lazuli rather than cobalt. This and other research places the vessel in the Mamluk era, which is the summit for Islamic glass.

These works were much admired in Europe around five to seven centuries ago. The Rothschild Bucket was also pursued by the Third Reich, whose agents expropriated it during the Second World War. Its condition is still excellent and its value (estimate GBP600,000 – 800,000) will not be affected by its function; the bucket was probably a finger bowl. As the inscription says: “I am a toy for the fingers, shaped as a vessel. I contain cool water.”

Also in London, the results were in for the first major sale of Turkish contemporary art. Sotheby’s did well, with most lots selling at or above their high estimate. Needless to say, the most enthusiastic bidders were from Turkey, although it was a fairly international assembly of bidders. At the top end, artists such as Mubin Orhon and Taner Ceylan doubled their estimates. The auction record for a Turkish contemporary work is now Orhon’s 1961 oil on canvas ‘Untitled’, which sold for a little under GBP200,000. Ceylan’s hyper-realist cover lot of a bloodied boxer did well, fetching GBP70,000. Turkish works will also be appearing at this April’s Christie’s ‘International Modern and Contemporary Art’ sale in Dubai, this month, so more records might be on the way.

In addition to its London activities, Sotheby’s has been very busy in the Gulf. The 19 March sale of ‘Arts of the Islamic World’ at the Ritz Carlton Doha had its own catalogue for a deluxe selection of 17 items. Everything was exquisite, including a 17th Persian carpet with a very superior provenance – Thyssen Bornemisza. All the stops have been pulled out for Qatar.

At a time when many auction catalogues are looking comparatively dowdy, Sotheby’s created an elegantly slim volume for another carpet. The ‘Pearl Carpet of Baroda’ received this special treatment mostly because it is an extraordinarily rare and valuable item, but also because there is a local connection; the 1.5 million pearls that went into its creation are from the coast of Qatar and Bahrain. It came just after the Islamic sale, presumably because it was so special. For an object that had been commissioned by one of India’s leading Hindu rulers, the Maharaja of Baroda, it had some surprisingly Islamic credentials: an identical sister carpet was created to cover the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad in Medina.



Bonhams ‘Islamic and Indian Art’ on 2 April also has a mini-catalogue for a single lot. In general, the offerings are solid, mainstream fare, but special treatment is handed out for an exceptional gem-set finial from the throne of Tipu Sultan. The romance and the drama of this 18th century ruler never fail to ignite the public imagination. No estimate is revealed for this eye-catching and extremely rare piece of Indian history. At only 7 cm high, it has a lot of presence, partly because of the number of jewels. Shaped like a tiger’s head, the teeth are also fashioned from small diamonds. Will it be bought by Vijay Mallya, who has taken so much Tipu Sultan material back to India? He has also done his patriotic duty by buying Mahatma Gandhi’s bits and pieces for US$1.8 million.

One or two Tipu specialists have expressed their surprise about such an important piece surfacing so unexpectedly, but the finial appears to be accompanied by a reliable and rather glamorous provenance. Weaving more of a story round it for the Bonhams magazine is the engaging historian William Dalrymple.

Among the less expensive curiosities at Bonhams is a collection of Qajar-dynasty stationery and postcards. Interesting to see the small changes that have been made to the Iranian flag. The colours have remained the same since the 19th century, but the lion in the centre has been replaced by a symbol that is supposed to be Islamic but may well have its roots in Zoroastrian or Indian tradition.

For this season’s Islamic sales, the fiesta started early at Christie’s. Instead of being the usual April sale, it was held at the end of March. The number of lots was about half of what it had been last October. As with the other auction houses, the estimates seemed reasonable, but unlike the others, the number of premium items was not down. The final word on Christie’s should go to the French office for the Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge sale.

While the media was focusing on rogue bidders from China, the Islamic lots sold extremely well. No writeups have mentioned results that saw trophy hunters paying more than twice the estimate, sometimes ten times. A strange feature of Sain Laurent’s Islamic works is how a man of such gentle nature could have so much passion for Mughal daggers. No cultural repatriation issues were raised by the governments of India or Pakistan.


DEMON LOVERS

Back in London, one can be sure that art of the Islamic world is finding a wider audience when Rossi & Rossi has an exhibition of Iranian artists. This Mayfair gallery has built an impressive reputation almost exclusively on Himalayan art. For April, the very Himalayan-sounding ‘Demons and D-Artboards’ features the work of Malekeh Nayiny and Fereydoun Ave.

Both artists are from Iran, although Ave has experimented with Tibetan prayer wheels in his latest work. He has not always been appreciated by the authorities in Iran and he certainly won’t be welcomed in China. Transforming the image of peaceable prayer wheels into dartboards, the bull’s eye is occupied by the Chinese leader who did more than any other to destroy the identity of Tibet. This is the Great Helmsman as you never see him in art from China.

Nayiny, on the other hand, has adopted a different sort of playfulness. Continuing the theme of demons, he has taken the ‘Divs’ from the epic poem Shahnameh and updated them. These are charming rather than alarming digital C-prints. As the artist says, “I suppose one way to tackle the Divs is to reminisce about them through the decades of one's life: you see them as a child, great big lumps of flesh with polka dots being bashed about by some muscle-bound champ like Rostam [hero from the Shahnameh] and you feel mildly sorry for them as they look as innocuous as fat uncles in fancy dress.”


TRIPLE TREAT
One of the great publishing events of the Islamic-art world has just happened. The long-awaited Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture is now available at a list price of almost US$400. This three-volume set from Oxford University Press is edited by the inseparable husband-and-wife team of Sheila Blair and Jonathan Bloom. With 1,500 entries, it is a definitive contribution to the field. One of the exciting developments is that Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are given some of the attention they deserve.

MALAYSIAN 10th ANNIVERSARY
The culmination of the 10th anniversary of the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia happens this month with a major exhibition. The guest of honour is Malaysia’s new prime minister, who will no doubt be full of praise for the Southeast Asian institution that has done the most to promote Islamic art in the region. Over the past decade, the museum has staged 30 exhibitions and around the same number of publications. With a new generation of Islamic-art museums appearing, especially in the Middle East, the IAMM now counts as among the most established of the handful of such establishments that exist.

THE SHAH MUST GO ON




Yesterday was the festival of Nourouz, as anyone in the vicinity of an Iranian restaurant will be aware. Finding evidence of Iran’s great artistic contribution is more difficult. Nowhere in the Islamic world has had a more prolific output and yet it is not always easy to locate.

Contemporary Iranian art is ubiquitous – most of the Middle Eastern market consists of this rather than the work of Arab artists. It fills countless galleries in the Gulf and elsewhere. Older Iranian artefacts, however, are usually found only in Islamic-art museums. A spectacular collection exists in the most publicised new museum of recent times. The Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar is famous for being a big enough project to bring the legendary architect I.M. Pei out of retirement. When it opened last year, most of the attention went to Pei and the canapés. YoYo Ma with his cello was another popular attraction. There was also an exhibition, which has been a less lasting achievement with minimal input from Iranian institutions.

Far from Qatar an exhibition has opened at one of the world’s oldest museums, rather than its youngest. The British Museum has received less international publicity than the museum in Qatar and it certainly deserves more. Most remarkably, it’s a blockbuster show with Iranian art as the theme. ‘Shah Abbas: The Remaking of Iran’ is in the same series as two of the most successful exhibitions of recent years. The first was about China’s Emperor Qin Shihuangdi, and the second was about the Roman Emperor Hadrian. Both brought in record crowds, with visitors booking months ahead and having limited-time tickets.
I’m not sure how Shah Abbas I is doing, but he probably needs a bit more support. He doesn’t have any terracotta warriors (like Shihuangdi) or a famous wall (like Hadrian or Shihuangdi). Few art lovers have heard of this Safavid ruler and yet his reign (1587 - 1629) was remarkable. Equally remarkable is the way Iran has become such a central world player while its traditional art is less well known now than it was a century ago.

The US probably won’t get as excited about this exhibition as the UK, mainly because America still has all sorts of restrictions on relations with ‘Axis of Evil’ Iran.
When I wrote recently about America getting over the British burning down the White House, unlike China which refuses to let go of its Summer Palace being looted, I was talking about 200 years ago. America has not, however, recovered from the humiliation inflicted during the Tehran siege of 1979. Art might help the healing process.
The art of Iran reveals that the nation may usually have been good on the battlefield but its first love has always been love. Could there be a nation of more incurable romantics? Poetry fills every type of surface at the British Museum exhibition. When the elite of Iran were not pining for some unobtainable woman – or ringletted man – they were seeking union with God. It was not all about prostrating themselves before a frightening and unknowable Almighty. The aim was a kind of mystical union, and in the front row of the love fest were the Sufi orders.

These have become increasingly popular around the world in recent years, even in Malaysia, where they are not approved of. They might be called ‘Sufi light’ when compared to the heavy-duty ecstasy that existed in Iran of the Safavid era (1502 -1736). The British Museum exhibition sheds fascinating light on the different forms of inebriation that existed there. The way in which the show was assisted by some of Iran’s leading institutions shows the country’s willingness to examine the past without censoring it.
In a different, and supposedly more liberal part of the Islamic world, Dubai has just banned dancing and loud music. The Sufis of today won’t be holidaying there, which will suit the emiratal authorities fine.

Dancing and loud music were part of the package in old-style Sufi practice but their act has been cleaned up nowadays. Just as old-style crazy Christian preachers with an aversion to bathing have been replaced by Teflon-suited TV evangelists with great teeth, the disreputable ways of the dervish have gone. Fortunately they have been recorded at the British Museum. Malaysian residents who can’t make it to London will find an admirable substitute in the exhibition catalogue written by the pre-eminent scholar Sheila Canby. Priced at a mere RM125, the pound’s decline against the resurgent ringgit is a bonus to art lovers.

There is a lot more than whirling dervishes on display in both the exhibition and the catalogue. The profusion and variety of art at the time is astonishing. Iran was a world superpower of the 17th century, thanks largely to one very ambitious emperor. Art was probably not his greatest passion; there are few dictators who would list it among their favourite hobbies, and Saddam Hussein certainly couldn’t tell a bomb from a blonde bombshell on canvas.

The milieu that Shah Abbas created was an incentive to artists. The emperor did as much to encourage creative innovation as the present rulers of Iran do to ignore it. This hasn’t stopped Iran from being one of the great artistic hothouses of the past few years. So, maybe official policy is irrelevant. Art will always be a part of Iran; just like food at Nourouz.

(published in the New Sunday Times, 22 March 2009)

GULF TOUR DE FORCE

The art action is focused on the Middle East this month. After February’s ‘Art and Antiques Dubai’ comes the biggest event in the region. The more succinctly named ‘Art Dubai’ is in its third year and as influential as ever. The oil price may be down, but the energy is still all around the Gulf.
There is something new for this year. ‘Contemporabia’ is a showpiece of inter-emirate harmony involving the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage; Art Dubai; the Sharjah Biennial; and the Qatar Museums Authority. Described as an “a cultural and geographical excursion” by the organisers, it should provide the most comprehensive introduction ever attempted to one of the world’s least comprehensible regions. Seven days to cover four different kingdoms of culture, each one vying with its neighbour to provide the most memorable experience. There is nothing else like it in the art world and it provides a neat summary of the non-stop activity taking place there.
The excursion begins in the domain of a comparative newcomer: Qatar. After the year-long build-up, Doha eventually opened its showpiece, designed by I.M. Pei, as everyone must know by now. The new Museum of Islamic Art provides the most dazzling glimpse of the Gulf’s potential so far. It also shows the internationalism of the region. Instead of the obsession with keeping things local that exists in much of Asia, the MIA has taken a more global approach. Day one of Contemporabia includes a greeting from the Director of the Qatar Museums Authority, who is from the USA, and a tour with the Director of the MIA, who is from the UK.
After Qatar, it is on to Sharjah for the Biennal 9. Yes, that is a nine as in the ninth biennal. This has become a major happening, as well as being the most established in the region. The first Sharjah Biennal was back in 1993 when the Gulf did not show any of the promise that it does now. Six years ago the event was re-energised and the focus widened from paintings and sculpture to include video installations and performance art. There have inevitably been some scathing comments in the past. Perhaps the worst blunder was two years ago, with the theme ‘Still Life: Art, Ecology and Change’ in a land where the airconditioning blows as fiercely as a desert storm. As Sharjah has less oil than its richer neighbours, the energy issue could become more pressing there.
The Sharjah Biennial has become a respected force in the Gulf, encouraging local artists to get engaged in the global art scene. Its patrons are from the royal family, which goes without saying in this part of the world. More unusually, the royal director is an artist herself. Her Highness Sheika Hoor al-Qasimi is a graduate of the Royal College of Art and is sufficiently hands-on to have been a painting tutor more than a decade ago. Taking a truly open approach, all are welcome to submit their works. In the words of the director, the aim is “… to consider work submitted by artists and non-artists alike, who were brave enough to take up the challenge and respond to an open invitation to realise their ideas.”
A less publicised detail about Sharjah is that it is the latest stop on the tour of the exhibition ‘Lure of the East: British Orientalist Painting”. This was on at Tate Britain last summer and marks the rehabilitation of the once-despised Orientalist genre. As much of its new respectability is a result of Middle Eastern enthusiasm, it is appropriate that the exhibition should be touring the region that inspired these works. When shown in London it was an astonishingly comprehensive and thought-provoking assemblage. It looks like it will be attracting plenty of attention in Sharjah too, partly because the opening hours are rather more generous (9am to 9pm). To show that this interest has solid foundations, a David Roberts painting on loan to the Tate for the original exhibition was actually from the Sharjah Museum. There will be no dodging of difficult questions about supposed Western fabrications and racial slurring. The exhibition curator will be on hand to do a gallery tour, and panel debates are also planned. One wonders whether any of the many harem scenes will be included in the Weekend Family Workshop for 6 to 11 year olds. One of the most interesting paintings in the London exhibition was on loan from the Qatar Museum Authorities and illustrated different and more enduring racial antagonisms. Gustav Bauernfeind’s ‘Entrance to the Temple Mount’ shows Jewish visitors being denied access to this holy site by turbaned Muslims.
There are no such problems on the short journey from Sharjah to Dubai for the next step in the Contemporabia programme. A mere half an hour takes visitors to the glossiest part of the Gulf. Dubai is where most of the activity is happening, including the essential ‘Art Dubai’. This year’s event sees the continuation of an initiative that started last year. The Abraaj Capital Art Prize is one of the richest in the world, with prizes up to US$200,000. Equally enticing is the opportunity of artists from the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia to work with established international curators to create exhibitions that will find a worldwide audience. The three winning entries are unveiled at this month’s Art Dubai and even the curators get to share some of the money.
After checking this out, participants in Contemporabia will be able to rush over to Abu Dhabi and then conclude the tour back at the Sharjah Biennial. A gruelling schedule, but perhaps the best way to make sense of the Gulf. There is no shortage of comfort these days, and it is probably better to stay away from the beaches with all the publicity about effluent control.



SALES GROWTH
Although it is not part of the Contemporabia safari, Sotheby’s is holding its first-ever major series of auctions in the Gulf at the same time. Along with the now customary offerings of watches and contemporary art from Iran and the Arabic-speaking world, there is the novelty of Orientalist paintings. Private collectors around the region are showing as much interest as museums, so success should be assured for this category. Among the paintings on offer is a sumptuous Rudolf Ernst view of a waterpipe smoker. Equally ravishing but less convincing as a piece of reportage is Jean-Baptist Huysman’s harem-like ‘A Private Meeting’. To ensure a Gulf-wide audience, highlights from the auctions have been previewed in the United Arab Emirates.
In the same month, Sotheby’s is undertaking a bolder experiment on its more established London turf. In addition to continuing the London sales of contemporary Iranian and Arab art, the auction house is introducing an entirely new category: Turkish contemporary art. Turkey’s long history of art collecting receives an international emphasis in Bond Street. This comes at a time when Western art lovers are getting used to the existence of Middle Eastern art, something that has been exposed by the heavy promotion given, as usual, by Charles Saatchi. The show ‘Unveiled: New Art of the Middle East’ at his Sloane Square gallery has generated far more comment than any others in this category, including the pioneering ‘Word into Art’ at the British Museum in 2006.
Not even Saatchi has Turkish artists at his exhibition though. They come from many other parts of the Islamic world, but Turkey tends to be missing from most overviews. Its hour has definitely arrived, thanks to Sotheby’s, so a non-Turkish audience will at last become acquainted with an entirely different genre. Highlights of the sale include artists such as Mubin Orhon and Erol Akyavas, names that are as little known now as artists from the Arab and Iranian worlds were two years ago. Compared with the works being sold in the Gulf, the estimates for Turkish works are appealingly low.


Sotheby’s series of auctions in Qatar at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Doha, 18 and 19 March

Sotheby’s inaugural sale of Turkish Contemporary Art, Bond Street, London, 4 March





Caption 2
Mubin Orhon’s ‘Untitled’ from 1961 will be one of the main attractions at Sotheby’s pioneering sale of Turkish contemporary art

Caption 3
The Turkish avant-garde is represented by artists such as the sculptress Seyhun Topuz



SUBCONTINENTAL DRIFT

It might seem that it is all about contemporary art this month. In the Gulf, last month featured some of the older material at ‘Art and Antiques Dubai’. Elsewhere around the world, traditional Islamic-art events are quite limited. This month sees the closing of an innovative exhibition at a museum that does not often appear in this column: the San Diego Museum of Art. ‘Emerging Elites: Indo-Muslim Art in Transition’ takes a new look at Indian paintings between 1739 and 1858.
Instead of examining the art of India’s Mughal rulers, whose time was up by then, this exhibition explores a period of decentralisation in which new elites imposed their tastes. Bankers and merchants were an important force at this time, creating a new aesthetic that is visible in paintings from the collection of Edward Binney 3rd. Appropriately, Binney was the heir to the Crayola crayon empire.

Emerging Elites: Indo-Muslim Art in Transition at the San Diego Museum of Art, ends 15 March