Historicisms in Islamic Art: Narratives, Materials & Perspectives

20^th Colloquium of the Ernst Herzfeld Society

Held for the first time in Cairo, the 20th Colloquium of the Ernst Herzfeld Society for Studies in Islamic Art and Archaeology will take place at The American University in Cairo, Tahrir Campus, from July 3–6, 2025. This four-day international gathering will bring together scholars, researchers, and cultural practitioners from all over the world to explore the theme: “Historicism in Islamic Art: Narratives, Materials, and Perspectives.”

Co-organized by the Sheikh Hassan Abbas Sharbatly Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations (ARIC) at AUC, the German Archaeological Institute Cairo (DAI), and the Ernst Herzfeld Society (EHG), the event will feature a keynote panel, over 30 scholarly papers, and a curated photo exhibition, Through Meinecke’s Lens: Cairenes and Cairo of the 1970s, presented in collaboration with the Museum für Islamische Kunst, Berlin.

The colloquium is free and open to the public.

For in-person participation, please register here:
https://forms.gle/79shskRoCMiCinx57
Please make sure to have your IDs/Passports to be able to enter through the gates at AUC Tahrir Campus

For online participation, please join us through Zoom here:
Oriental Hall sessions: https://aucegypt.zoom.us/j/96746974931
Hill House session:  https://aucegypt.zoom.us/j/96763302311

Students, historians, cultural experts, and all those interested in Islamic art history are warmly invited to attend.

About this year’s EHG Colloquium:
The 20th Colloquium of the Ernst Herzfeld Society invites recent research on historicism in Islamic art that examines how historical awareness has shaped artistic production in different periods and regions. The conference aims to explore the different categories of historicism in Islamic Art and the role of historiography and Islamic material cultural production in shaping narratives. It hopes to explore the different ways historicism has shaped narratives, mediums, and discourses surrounding Islamic art, while also exploring its contemporary production. The concept of historicism in Islamic art, which involves the conscious use and sometimes revival and reinterpretation of historical forms and styles, offers an interesting way to explore the evolution and continuity of Islamic artistic traditions. The organizers aim to bring together and encourage dialogue between art historians, archaeologists, cultural historians, and practitioners, and to highlight the need for the preservation and promotion of the Islamic artistic heritage in contemporary times.