Terms

Question 1

Arab

Answer 1

Someone who’s mother tongue is Arabic

Question 2

Culture Talk

Answer 2

Tendency to separate out religious traditions and place them onto political things

Question 3

Humanity Game

Answer 3

Attempt to prove the humanity of a group through art, etc.

Question 4

Islamicate

Answer 4

Anything produced in an environment with Muslim majority, however not primarily religious

Question 5

Middle East

Answer 5

Arbitrary geopolitical fiction

Question 6

Muslim (art)

Answer 6

Anything created with religious purpose for and by Muslims

Question 7

Orientalism

Answer 7

A paradigmatic mode of thought that shows the superiority of the west over the east. Specifically paints the Middle East as an uncivilized and barbaric place, that can only be liberated by the West.

Question 8

Aniconism

Answer 8

the general tendency to shy away from representational imagery (relatively common in Abrahamic faiths)

Question 9

Anthropomorphism

Answer 9

When there are attributes of a human in something

Question 10

Fatwa

Answer 10

An opinion that can not be issued unless you’ve had the training. It is NOT a binding legal ruling

Question 11

Iconoclasm

Answer 11

the activated form of aniconism where objects are actually destroyed

Question 12

Aniconism vs Iconoclasm

Answer 12

tendency to shy away vs the activated destruction of art

Question 13

Fus’ha (MSA)

Answer 13

A written version of Arabic that is taught in schools. No one grows up speaking this, and it is really formal. It was developed as a political project to create a common written language across the Arab world.

Question 14

Hanging poems

Answer 14

Poems that won an ancient poetry contest that are hung on the Kabah

Question 15

Hilya

Answer 15

Calligraphy that is explicitly Muslim. It forms a “portrait” of Mohammed, with his head, belt, and skirt.

Question 16

Qu’ran

Answer 16

Means “the ressetation/the reading”. It’s divine origin is evident through the language, which is Quranic Arabic. Fun fact: the first word is the command “read”

Question 17

Casbah

Answer 17

The old city that is a walled citadel. It is the traditional quarters and it is crowded, however architecturally it shows the value of privacy

Question 18

Harem

Answer 18

Household/sanctuary which is sacred/off limits. Specially, the architecture faces inwards.

Question 19

Calligraffiti

Answer 19

Calligraphy + graffiti, which comes out of the practice of حرفية.

Question 20

Calligraffiti

Answer 20

Calligraphy + graffiti, which comes out of the practice of حرفية. It is born from, but not shackled by tradition (good example - Al-Seed)

Question 21

Hajj

Answer 21

Mandatory pilgrimage to Mecca

Question 22

Hurufiyya (حرفية)

Answer 22

An art form that deals with letters in Arabic, but it is not rigid like Calligraphy and you don’t have to study with a master. It’s not inherently religious, and it comes out of a fear of losing cultural identity w/colonization (good example - Hassan Massoudy)

Question 23

Kufic

Answer 23

A form of calligraphy that is box-like and geometric. It probably came first and was used to record religious docs (like the Qu’ran). It is more decorative than readable, and sometimes doesn’t even have the dots that we know and love.

Question 24

Naskh

Answer 24

A form of Calligraphy that is much easier to read than Kufic. نسخ means “to copy”. Originally used for correspondences and non religious stuff at first. Fun fact: the Hilya are written in this form of calligraphy!

Question 25

Naskh

Answer 25

A form of Calligraphy that is much easier to read than Kufic. نسخ means “to copy”. Originally used for correspondences and non religious stuff at first. Fun fact: the Hilya are written in this form of calligraphy!

Question 26

Palmyra (Tadmur)

Answer 26

An ancient city in Syria. It was founded in the 3rd millennium BCE (and abandoned in 1932). It attracted a lot of attention during French and Italian imperialism and acted as justification of imperialism due to the idea that Europeans were “true inheritors of greco-roman tradition”. Also it is a militaristic photo-op for not just imperialists but ISIS as well :(

Question 27

Palmyra (Tadmur)

Answer 27

An ancient city in Syria. It was founded in the 3rd millennium BCE (and abandoned in 1932). It attracted a lot of attention during French and Italian imperialism and acted as justification of imperialism due to the idea that Europeans were “true inheritors of greco-roman tradition”. Also it is a militaristic photo-op for not just imperialists but ISIS as well :(

Question 28

Zenobia

Answer 28

A woman with BDE (Big Dick Energy) who ruled Palmyra back in the day. She has been adapted as an anti-imperial leader which is politically really useful.