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International Journal of Islamic Architecture (IJIA)Special Issue on Installing Islamic Art: Interior Space and TemporalImaginationThematic volume planned for Summer 2018Proposal submission deadline: 31 January 2017With the establishment of new cultural institutions in the Middle Eastand Africa, major Islamic art collections have relocated across theglobe during the past decade. A number of Euro-American museums, too,have embarked on remodelling their decades-old gallery configurationsfor presenting material remains from the Muslim-majority societies ofthe Arab lands, Iran, Turkey and South Asia and have continuouslysought compromised, if not ideal, display modes. On the other hand,such efforts have revitalised the following contentious debatesconcerning the display genre of “Islamic art”: to what extentfragmental archaeological finds, restored objects and detachedmanuscript painting pages can be installed as the unified image ofMuslim civilisation within a self-contained space; how suchdecontextualised objects might speak for themselves; and how theyreflect current politics of representation in the midst of globaltransformations.The installation of Islamic art has gone through a series of vigorouschanges over the centuries. As a display genre, nineteenth-centuryOrientalist fantasies articulated at world’s fairs served to definestatic, timeless images of the “Orient” for popular consumption andformed the basis of exhibitory concepts in which the world of Islamought to be represented in the Euro-American museums during the firsthalf of the twentieth century. In recent years, however, a number ofcultural institutions worldwide, particularly those with the adjective“Islamic” in their names, began to be involved in a growingsociological and historical debate as to the function and meaning ofthe display of Islamic art. It has been increasingly argued that bothpublic and private museums should be designed to offer opportunitiesfor wide public engagement for a better understanding of Muslimcivilisation.What remains to be considered within these larger debates, however, isthe design of Islamic art installations itself?the interior space as athree-dimensional, mixed-media construction or as an architecturallyunified space (different from the display of separate sculpture orother individual art works). While these topics have been well exploredin other fields, the display of Islamic art installation as a form ofvisual and spatial expression on its own terms remains largelyunderstudied. A number of potential topics surrounding Islamic artgalleries and their exhibitions can be proposed, such as theinteractivity of its space, as well as its commitments to the needs ofnon-specialist visitors, and the question of self-expression on thepart of curators and exhibition designers.This special issue invites papers that explore the history, culture andpolitics of the interior space in the field of Islamic art andarchitecture from the eighteenth century to the present, as well as tothose that extend discussion into the future. Preference is given totopics dealing with global trends, covering a wide area of the MiddleEast, Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America, but new approachesto the installation of Islamic art in well-established Euro-Americanmuseums would be welcome as well.Themes may include, but are not limited to, the following:1)    The relationship between internal space and the permanentgalleries that this space holds—how does the container itself shapeswhat “Islamic art” means to the viewer?2)    What are the representational politics at stake in preparingtemporary exhibitions (within standing museum buildings or mobilearchitectural environments such as biennales) dedicated to thepresentation of Muslim cultures and societies—relationships betweenobjects, their textual commentary, spatial layout and design, as wellas modes of display?3)    What are some of the dominant theoretical or methodologicaldebates (e.g., modernity vs. revivalism, secularisation vs.spiritualisation, neo-Orientalism vs. neo-Occidentalism) that haveanimated discussions concerning galleries and their display in general,and specifically in relationship to “Islamic art”?4)    How can “Muslim civilisational” agendas be represented in thecontexts of ethnographical, archaeological or fine art museums?5)    What kind of organisational layout was in the past popular or iscurrently dominant in the display mode of Islamic art (chronologically,geographically, thematically or according to types of objects—e.g.ceramics, metalwork, textiles, manuscript painting), and what were/arethe advantages or disadvantages of each layout?6)    What are the roles of architectural models, reconstructions orreplicas in museum installations, and how are they integrated into theimage-making of Islamic art and architecture in exhibitory contexts?7)    What are the voices of curators and exhibition designers, and howare they reflected (or suppressed) in the design of Islamic artgalleries?8)    What are possibilities for the display of Islamic art withoutobjects through digital interfaces and remote connection?9)    How can and should the display genre of “Islamic art” evolve inthe future as increasing pressure is placed on the need to representthe religion to a global public?10)    What are new trends in museum architecture, with specialreference to its gallery space or/and the relationship between theexterior and the interior, and in particular those spectacularbuildings that are designed by leading architects and interiordesigners, and their ability (or limits) to convey messages about thenature of Islamic art and/or Muslim civilisation?Essays that focus on historical and theoretical analysis (DiT papers)should have a minimum of 5,000 words but not more than 8,000 words, andessays on design (DiP papers in the context of this special issue wouldideally come from participants in curating museum spaces or developingtheoretical models for assessing the impact of museum space/design andlayout on visitors) can range from 3,000 to 4,000 words.Contributions from scholars of Islamic art and architectural history,scholars of museum studies, anthropology, ethnography, archaeology,sociology and political theory in the broadest sense, as well ascritics of exhibition history and design are welcome. Contributionsfrom practitioners who have experienced with the designing of artexhibitions and galleries (with Islamic or non-Islamic themes) or whowish to propose a new installation scheme are particularly welcome, andshould bear in mind the critical framework of the journal.Please send a 400-word abstract with the essay title to the guesteditor, Dr Yuka Kadoi (ijia.installation@gmail.com), by 31 January2017. Those whose proposals are accepted will be contacted soonthereafter and requested to submit full papers to the journal by 30June  2017. All papers will undergo full peer review.For author instructions regarding paper guidelines, please consult:www.intellectbooks.com/ijia.