Crossroads of Cloth: Textile Arts and Aesthetics in and beyond the Medieval Islamic World

Abstract

Textile arts were long neglected by art history as “minor” or “applied” arts; however, the recent turns towards transcultural and global art history, material culture, and a new interest in artifacts have brought increasing attention to textile studies. In this context the author seeks to reassess academic approaches to textiles from the medieval Islamic world, highlighting their role in the lively artistic interactions between Islamic territories and other regions and exploring both the multiple temporalities inherent in many textiles and their place at the intersection of various media and materials. Rather than technical analyses of medieval fabrics, she offers a contribution to the re-evaluation of the textile medium within the discipline of art history.