What do we mean when we say “Islamic art”? A plea for a critical rewriting of the history of the arts of Islam

This essay seeks to open discussion on the history of Islamic art and artistic production within the critical framework of colonial and postcolonial studies; and, at the same time, to contribute to the ongoing discourse surrounding the creation and definition of the term ‘Islamic art history’ as a scientific field within the wider discipline of art history. Arguing for the urgent need for a large-scale and methodical critical reconsideration of the field, the article exposes and explores a number of problematic paradigms that have been embedded in the field of Islamic art history from the period of its founding, many of them springing directly from the ‘imagined Islam’ that remains the field’s point of definition. The imposition of universalism, cosmopolitanism and medievalism upon Islamic art, the persistent models of Classicism and degeneracy, and anxieties relating to terminology and the ‘spiritualization’ of Islam are among the key concepts questioned, with the ultimate aim of generating new pathways for research into the visual culture of the Islamic world.