Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia
November 5-6, 2004,

This groundbreaking symposium presents a series of scholarly illustrated lectures covering recent advances in the study of Islamic art and architecture. The distinguished scholar Dr. Oleg Grabar, Professor Emeritus from the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, will present the Keynote Lecture on Friday evening, November 5. On Saturday, November 6, a roster of internationally renowned scholars and specialists on Islamic art from the United States, Europe and the Middle East will offer individual presentations on various aspects of Islamic art and architecture.

Scheduled speakers include:

• Drs. Sheila Blair and Jonathon Bloom of Boston College
• Massumeh Farhad, Chief Curator and Curator of Islamic Art at the Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery of Art and Sackler Gallery of Art
• Dr. Robert Hillenbrand of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland
• Dr. Gulru Necipoglu-Kafadar, Aga Khan Professor of Islamic Art at Harvard University
• Dr. Nabil Safwat of Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• Dr. Oliver Watson, Chief Curator of the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar
• Mohamed Zakariya, independent scholar, artist and specialist on Islamic calligraphy. An open forum discussion will conclude the symposium on Saturday afternoon.

All symposium events will be presented in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Theater. The symposium is presented by the Department of Art History at Virginia Commonwealth University in collaboration with the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and is sponsored by the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development. Advance registration fee required. For more information, contact the Department of Art History, Virginia Commonwealth University, (804) 828-2784, (e-mail address given below), or the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, (804) 340-1405.