Date: February 22-24, 2017

Venue: the Manchester Museum, University of Manchester, UK

Registration will open in the New Year. Attendance will be charged at £20 per day for the two days of the full conference program (£10 per day for students). The workshops may only be attended by paying conference attendees. The conference will be preceded by a day of workshops and visits on Wednesday 22nd.

Program

• Wednesday, 22nd February, 2017

– Workshop: Reaching for the Stars: The Astrolabe in the Islamic World.

Presented by Silke Ackermann (Director) and Christopher Parkin (Lead Education Officer), Museum of the History of Science, University of Oxford.

This workshop will provide conference attendees with an introduction to the astrolabe, an instrument which was studied and developed by scholars and craftsman throughout the early centuries of the expansion of Islamic civilization. The workshop will explore the significance of this instrument within Islamic culture including its use in a religious context and scope for design and craftsmanship. Participants will be able to handle replica instruments and to make a working model based on one from the Museum’s collection of astrolabes from the Islamic world.

– Visit: Islamic Manuscript Highlights at the John Rylands Library Special Collections

The John Rylands Library, University of Manchester, 150 Deansgate, Manchester M3 3EH.

Presented by Elizabeth Gow, Manuscript Curator and Archivist, The John Rylands Library.

– Workshop: The Practicalities of Working in the Middle East and South Asia

A Workshop Organized by the Subject Specialist Network for Islamic Art and Material Culture.

The Whitworth Art Gallery Study Centre, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M15 6ER.

Beginning to think about working in or with institutions in the Middle East and South Asia can be a daunting prospect but one which does offer huge benefits in terms of curating your institution’s ‘Islamic’ collections. This session aims to be a practical ‘how to’ guide, and includes speakers with considerable experience in this area, who will share their understanding of the challenges and benefits from the perspective of their own work. The workshop is divided into three sessions:

– Where to begin? What are the opportunities and the practicalities of organising your visit to the Middle East and South Asia?

– Case studies on the benefits. How working or visiting the Middle East and South Asia can positively impact on the work carried out by you and / or your organization in the UK.

– Building your relationships with organizations in the Middle East and South Asia.

Main Conference Program

• Thursday, 23rd February, 2017

– Keynote Lecture by Stefan Weber, Director, Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin, Germany.

– Panel: The Qur’an in the Museum

– Panel: A Shared Identity: The Birmingham Qur’an – from Academia to Community.

– Panel: Pushing the Limits: Defining Islamic Art and Material Culture

– Panel: Faith and Identity on Display

• Friday, 24th February, 2017

– Panel: Interpreting and Exhibiting Islamic Art and Material Culture

– Panel: Case Studies: New Installations Worldwide

– Panel: Communities, Outreach and Education 1.

– Panel: Communities, Outreach and Education 2.

Read more at: h-net.org

Source: The University of Manchester