Instead, it is about creating a harmonious relationship between the different elements in a painting. Unity does not mean that all elements should be identical. Then, they can use techniques such as contrast, repetition, pattern, simplicity, symmetry and proximity to create unity. To achieve unity, the artist must carefully consider how the elements of a painting interact. When visual elements share similarities, the image as a whole appears connected in appearance and message. Unity in art is the quality of how each visual element relates to another. Separate sections of an artwork can appear cohesive or disjointed, based on how the artists has used different elements in an image. It refers to how all the components of a painting come together to appear unified. Art was used: beautiful to see, it could have propagandistic aims, religious motivations, and material connotations.Setting Islamic art in context will not simply provide a deeper understanding of it, but it will also give people the chance to appreciate it for what it was: the visible output of its time.7 Key Takeaways Definition of unity in art Art for art’s sake is a paradigm commonly used for Islamic art, placing it in an ephemeral space, in which aesthetic is the core value. The aim is to provide a narrative rooted in the context, with interest not only in the aesthetic value but on the historical background. The history of Islamic art should start to be presented and in a way re-thought, including those periods which are not always included, such as Indonesian art, and new perspectives and insights should be provided, relying on the specific context and not the general group. There is a deep gap between laypeople and scholars on the subject of Islamic art, which can be overcome easily. Professionals in Islamic art are well aware of the different currents and developments of the art, although amateurs are only rarely really conscious of the differences and variety, which is a pity. Islamic art is something people in general are fascinated with: they can be professionals, researchers, students, amateurs, or simply curious. When designing an open-access magazine about Islamic art, this is something to keep in mind: the difference between scholars and laypeople and their understanding on the subject is crucial. The unique character of Muslim art is a commonly known fact, which is experienced even by people who know hardly anything about this civilization … Yet, in spite of the apparent uniform character of Islamic art, everybody who becomes familiar with its various aspects realizes more and more the tremendous variety in the different regions and even in the changing periods within a single territory … What is actually more intriguing, yet more difficult to establish than this general state of diversity, are the various factors which, through interaction and integration, constantly helped to reinforce the strongly felt universal aspect of Muslim art.Įttinghausen’s point is enlightening, in a way: he differentiates between those who ‘know hardly anything about civilization’ and those who are ‘familiar’. Richard Ettinghausen recognises the varieties within Islamic art: Things get more difficult to define when it comes to far-away places, and here I refer for instance to Indonesia, where the art produced under Muslim rule relies on local traditions and does not look Islamic in a sense. In a sense, ‘Islamic art’ is a label that can be given to a great variety of artistic output dating to different eras, coming from different places, but all related to the Arab-Islamic word.Īs Marina Alin, in a recent article put it:Įvery geographical area within the Islamic lands in every given period of time shows its own recognizable style but all of them stay within a tradition called Islamic art, representing the main principle of the Universe – “Unity in diversity”. According to this paradigm, Islamic art took upon peculiar characteristics when developed in different contexts, yet based on the same core values it seems to form a big and uniform mass, which bears a common name, ‘Islamic art’. Everyone who is even somewhat acquainted with Islamic art well understands what it means: the art produced under Islam, whether it belongs to North Africa or Iran, is internally consistent, based on the same aesthetics and principles, providing outputs that are comparable. One of the most common paradigms used when speaking, or in this case writing, on Islamic art is ‘Unity in Diversity’.
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