Art Informant

In the 10th episode of the ART Informant, Isabelle Imbert welcomes Annie Vernay-Nouri, previously curator of Arabic manuscripts in the Bibliotheque nationale de France, and Aida El Khiari, doctoral student in the Sorbonne University, under supervision of Pr Eloise Brac de la Perriere, who unfortunately could not be present. Since 2012, they have been working on a major research project focused on illustrated Arabic copies of Kalila wa Dimna, a literary text born in India which had a huge impact from Asia to Europe. The project just concluded with a book, titled The Journeys of Kalila and Dimna: Fables in the Literature and Arts of the Islamic World. Together, they talked about the book, the definition of Arab painting, physical analysis, and the unpleasant experience of harmonising bibliographies.

  Mentioned in the Episode and Further Links 

• Follow the Art Informant on Instagram and Twitter
• Les périples de Kalila et Dimna: Quand les fables voyagent dans la littérature et les arts du monde islamique - Brill, 2022 
•  Follow Aida El Khiari on Academia 
• Blog Kalila wa Dimna (2012-2016) 
• Oldest illustrated copy of Kalila wa Dimna, 13th c. (BNF, Arabe 3465)
• Maqamat of al-Hariri, dated 1222-23 (BNF, Arabe 6094)
• Kalila wa Dimna, 18th c. (MET Museum, 1981.373)
• Exhibition "L'Art du livre arabe", BNF, 2001
• Exhibition "Enluminures en terre d'Islam", BNF, 2011 
• Click here for more episodes of the ART Informant.

Click here to see the reproductions of artworks discussed in the episode.

In the 9th episode of the ART Informant, Isabelle Imbert welcomes Alice Bailey, Head of the Islamic and Indian Arts department, at Rosebery’s auction.
Together, they discuss London Islamic week, to which Alice has been actively contributing for more than a decade. This year, Rosebery’s will close the event on the 1st April with a large catalogue full of treasures and great investment opportunities for new and seasoned collectors. Through this auction and Alice’s fruitful experience of the market, they talk about provenance, legislation and the future of Islamic art expert roles.

  Mentioned in the Episode and Further Links 

• Follow the Art Informant on Instagram and Twitter
• Follow Alice Bailey on Instagram
• Follow Rosebery's Auction on Instagram
• Check Rosebery's auction catalogue for Spring 2022 Islamic week (1st April)
• Click here for more episodes of the ART Informant.

Click here to see the reproductions of artworks discussed in the episode.

 In the 8th episode of the ART Informant, Isabelle Imbert welcomes Nuria Garcia Masip, professional calligrapher specialised in classical Ottoman Turkish scripts, in particular thuluth and naskh. Nuria has been trained by the greatest living calligraphers in Washington and Istanbul, and has been sharing her art and incredible artistry since she got her icajet, (ijaza) the official calligrapher diploma, in 2007. In the episode, she discusses her learning journey, her current work and what it is to be a calligrapher today.

If you've liked this episode and want to support, please consider donating.

Mentioned in the Episode and Further Links 

• Follow the Art Informant on Instagram and Twitter
• Follow Nuria Garcia Masip on Instagram and visit her website
• Visit Muhammad Zakarya's website to learn more about his work (Nuria's first teacher in Washington)
• More information on Davut Bektaş and his work (Nuria's second teacher in Istanbul)
• More information on Hasan Çelebi and his work (Nuria's third teacher in Istanbul)
• Follow Hamidi Bel'aid on Instagram (Nuria's teacher of maghribi script)
• Follow Pablo Khalid Casado on Instagram and visit his website (Nuria gave him the icazet)
• Follow Bahman Panahi on Instagram and visit his website (Iranian calligrapher and Nuria's husband)
• Click here for more episodes of the ART Informant.

Click here to see the reproductions of artworks discussed in the episode.

The Museum of Islamische Kunst in Berlin is getting ready to undergo its biggest transformation since its foundation, with a brand-new permanent exhibition due to open in 2026. In this episode of the ART Informant, Isabelle Imbert welcomes Dr Deniz Erduman-Çalış, curator of Islamic arts, to talk about the new permanent exhibition of Islamic arts, the inherent challenges in designing new rooms, but also the opportunities to tell new stories and retell old ones. A lot to be excited for!

 If you've liked this episode and want to support, please consider donating.

• Follow the Art Informant on Instagram and Twitter
• Follow Deniz Erduman-Çalış on Academia and LinkedIn
• Museum fur Islamische Kunst website  
•  Surah al-Nur (24) 
•  Takht-e Suleiman, summer royal palace of the Ilkhanid ruler Abaqa (r. 1265–82)
  • Short description on the Metropolitan Museum website
  • Archnet, photographic archive
  • History of Takht-e Suleiman, Encyclopaedia Iranica

 Click here for more episodes of the ART Informant. 

 In this episode of the ART Informant, Isabelle Imbert welcomes Dorina Michaelis, art historian and long time associate of the Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin. They discuss Dorina's background and current research on Pakistani ceramics, especially architectural decors produced in Multan. From their making to their arrival in European collections, this little-known production has a lot to reveal. 

If you've liked this episode and want to support, please consider donating.

Mentioned in the Episodes and Further Links 

•  Follow the Art Informant on Instagram and Twitter 
•  Reproductions of artworks discussed during the episode

How to show the interdiction of depicting the creation, known as iconoclasm? In this episode of the ART Informant, Isabelle Imbert welcomes Axel Langer, curator of Eastern art at the Museum Rietberg in Zürich. His upcoming exhibition, titled In the Name of the Image: Imagery between Cult and Prohibition in Islam and Christianity, tackles the different stances of Islam and Christianity toward image throughout history, but also the cultural interactions between East and West, and many more fascinating topics.

  If you've liked this episode and want to support, please consider donating.

Mentioned in the Episodes and Further Links 

•  Follow the Art Informant on Instagram and Twitter 
•  Follow Axel Langer on Academia 
• Presentation of the exhibition In the name of the Image: Imagery between Cult and Prohibition in Islam and Christianity
• Exhibition Catalogue: The Fascination with Persia, The Persian-European Dialogue in Seventeenth-Century Art and Contemporary Art of Teheran, Rietberg Museum, 2014 
• Images mentioned during the episode 

From learning to share to decade long friendship, this is the story of the 4th episode of the ART Informant, in which Isabelle Imbert welcomes Negar Habibi, lecturer in Iranian art history at the University of Geneva. During the episode, Dr Habibi discusses her journey from Tehran, to Aix-en-Provence, to the Museum of Art History of Geneva, where she currently works on cataloguing the collection of the French collector Jean Pozzi.

 If you've liked this episode and want to support, please consider donating.

Mentioned in the Episodes and Further Links 

•  Follow the Art Informant on Instagram and Twitter
• Follow Negar Habibi on Instagram and Academia
• Negar Habibi,ʿAli Qoli Jebādār et l'Occidentalisme Safavide, Brill, 2018. Book published from Negar's doctoral thesis.
• Museum of Art and History, Geneva (The Pozzi's collection has been digitised and is available via the online catalogue, however key words search with "Pozzi" doesn't return any result. Instead, filter by "dessin" in the left bar, and look under "Iran, Perse" and other relevant words.)
• Soudavar Memorial Foundation
• Quentin Arnoux M.A thesis: Illustrate the Shâhnâmeh in Esfahan in the mid 17th century : Mo’in Mosavver and a manuscript stored in Geneva
• Manazir: Swiss platform for the study of visual arts, architecture and heritage in the MENA region
• A. Ivanov, The St Petersburg Muraqqa, 1996 (vol. I), digitised on the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts' website. 

Images mentioned in the episode. 

Cow's urine, glitter and nanogels. In this episode, Isabelle Imbert welcomes Amelie Couvrat-Desvergnes, independent conservator of Islamic and Indian manuscripts and paintings, to discuss the progress of paper preservation techniques, the most difficult types of paper to conserve, and the do and don't of at-home conservation.

 Mentioned in the Episode and Further Links

Follow the Art Informant on Instagram

Follow Amelie Couvrat-Desvergnes on Instagram and check her website, amelieconservation.com

Amelie latest paper: "Cut-Out Calligraphy from the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries: Discussion of Its Origins and Significance and Observations on the Techniques and Tools Used", Journal of Material Cultures in the Muslim World

Association of Conservators (non-exhaustive):

• UK: https://www.icon.org.uk/
• USA: https://www.culturalheritage.org/
• France: https://www.ffcr.fr/la-ffcr
• Germany: https://iada-home.org/

Suppliers of conservation material:

• UK: https://www.cxdinternational.com/; https://www.preservationequipment.com/
• USA: https://www.talasonline.com/
• France: http://www.atlantis-france.com/fr/

To learn further about Nanogels, check the project Nanorestart below: 

• http://www.nanorestart.eu/
• http://www.nanorestart.eu/images/download/NRA_booklet.pdf
• http://antoniomirabile.com/images/competence/596f7436c49575.30352702-141publicationPSTremovalcompressed.pdf
• Rita Udina gave a summary of the concept on her website: https://ritaudina.com/en/2018/06/20/gels-microemulsions-nano-systems-paper-co

What does the career of an Islamic and Indian arts expert look like? How do we get to it? Also, what should you buy in the upcoming auction of Millon et Associés? In the second episode of the Art Informant, Isabelle Imbert sits with Anne-Sophie Joncoux-Pilorget, head of the Oriental Art and Orientalism department of the Parisian auction house Millon & Associés to answer all these questions.

 Mentioned in the Episode and Further Links  

Millon & Associés 8th December auction catalogue

• Ibn Kammuna, Refinement and Commentary on Suhrawardi's Intimations, €30.000-50.000
• Qur'an, Safavid Iran, 16th c., €20.000-30.000
• Two birds on a rose, signed Abdullah Bukhari, Ottoman Turkey, 18th c., €5.000-6.000
• Talismanic shirt, Ottoman Turkey, 18th c., €8.000-12.000 
• Portrait of a ruler, India, c. 1800, €600-800

A page from the royal Padshanama, sold December 2019, €702.000

The painting Anne-Sophie would love to acquire

Follow the Art Informant on Instagram

Follow Anne-Sophie Joncoux-Pilorget on Instagram

Follow Millon & Associés on Instagram 

This is it, the first episode of the Art Informant! Isabelle Imbert sits with Camille Célier, Islamic and Indian arts expert at Ader Nordman, and Romain Pingannaud, founder of Pingannaud-David expertise, to discuss the passing of Marie-Christine David, her legacy and the upcoming auction of her collection. Also, what do experts do with fakes? And why is documenting object provenance so important? These difficult questions are answered!

If you've liked this episode and want to support, please consider donating.

Mentioned in the episode and Further Links

• Check Ader Nordman next auction catalogue
• The Islamic piece Camille would add to her collection 
• The Islamic piece Romain would add to his collection 
• Follow Camille Célier and Pingannaud-David on Instagram
• Follow the Art Informant on Instagram
• Follow Isabelle Imbert on Instagram and LinkedIn

Click here to see the reproductions of artworks discussed in the episode.