Curating Philosophy: The Collaborative Approach of Reconciling Islamic Philosophy with Contemporary Creative Practice.

T.A. Alfahal

Abstract— Through researches in the art and design disciplines, the duality of textual and visual

materials has always been challenged and informed. There is no doubt, however, that visuals can

be communicative tools of knowledge that expresses experiences and thoughts, which cannot be

comprehended in words.

In an attempt to investigate the possibility of new approaches for Islamic design studies,

reconciliation between traditional Islamic philosophy with contemporary design practice is being

approached through a practice-led research. But how can one reconcile an intangible spiritual

essence, with creative practice, and in academic context? Especially where the research context

lacks the interrelationship between creating and critiquing.

This research found in curatorial practice an adequate alternative to methodological approaches

in Islamic design studies. For it has been described as a quest to find new insights, through its

rigorous attention to knowledge, and its direct experience with art. The research aims to

demonstrate how curatorial practice can be advocate to challenge and inform education while

adapting its collaborative nature, and how it can function as “a public interface” that contributes to

a specific cultural production; the production of Muslims’ today in the creative terrain.

This paper will focus on showcasing the key findings and the research approach for generating

philosophical concepts as design principles. It will also showcase how the methodological

approach transforming textual findings into visuals, and how are they manifested through different

mediums such as: visual diary for the artist-as-researcher, reflexive mind maps as visual design

language and as response to theory.

Keywords— Creative Process, Design Pedagogy, Design Thinking, Islamic art, Islamic designs, Islamic philosophy.

Introduction

Islamic art was born as an instrumental need in Muslims’ life. From practicing the principles of

faith throughout everyday life, art was found as an expressive tool for Islamic revelation, worship,

and the contemplative remembrance of God (Nasr, 1987). Art offered rather a spiritual function in

pre-modern Islam and that was only possible because of the “organic rapport” and the intimacy

found between the form and the content of the Islamic revelation (Akkach, 2012; Nasr, 1987).

Today, this rapport between Islamic art and spirituality has diminished; and the cosmological and

metaphysical ideas that were the core of creative practices lost their imminence in people’s lives.

Hence, the cultural and religious practice of Islamic societies became separate from the creative

production, which has basically led to almost-complete discard of the profound spiritual principles

in Islamic art and design, and the underlying philosophical basis for creative practice are now

often ignored, and understated (Akkach, 2012; Nasr, 1987).

A question is provoked here; can the philosophy of traditional Islam still be a part of the

contemporary creative world? Can the spiritual essence take part of the creative dialogue today?

Can sacred art find a way back into Muslims’ life rather than limiting it to museum objects they

visit from time to time?

In order to answer these questions, the research aims to:

Re-connect with the spiritual foundations (cosmological, metaphysical, symbolic, etc.) of

Islamic art and design for further analysis of their potentials in contemporary creative practice.

Create a basis, through practical experimentations and reflexive approach by the researcher-

as-curator, in order to potentially establish more appropriate pedagogical model for creativity in

Islamic art and design (Sullivan, 2005; Tomas, 1964; Williams, Ostwald and Askland, 2011)

The research will potentially provide a contribution to knowledge by setting:

a. A Theory-based reconciliation of Islamic philosophy with contemporary design thinking,

b. A practice-based collective approach in the field of Islamic art and design, and

c. An exploration of the potential application of these principles in contemporary Islamic design

education.

This paper will mainly focus on the synthesis of philosophical concepts in traditional Islam in

contemporary design language, a language that manifests into visuals that will be used as

communicative tools to disseminate research knowledge. The outcomes aim at realizing a

comprehensive set of materials that can be adapted for Islamic design studies.

I. Revisiting Philosophy

Looking closely at the traditional Muslim’s way of life; the notion of division between what is

sacred and what is profane is eliminated in Islamic settings (Kazimee and Rahmani, 2003). In

order to comprehend this notion of faith in creative settings, few points needed to be in

consideration:

A. Concept of Creativity in Islamic Context: Since the main source of the religion is the Divine

Law set out instructions for Muslims way of living, however it does not mean that there are set

rules for creativity in Islam. Creativity is left out here without borders, and that is to let imagination

wanders. For what is seen evident in Islamic art not the message on how to make things, but

things are made because of a certain context (Nasr, 1987; Ramadan, 2008). Hence, it is

important to focus on ideas and cosmology within the contextual settings where the work of art is

produced rather than looking at the historical and cultural conditions that facilitate artistic

production (Akkach, 2012).

B. The Islamic philosophy underpinning the creative decisions: In order to emphasize more

on the ‘why’ instead of the ‘how’, and the spirituality that was embedded in the creative process in

traditional Islamic art and design, it is important to revisit references of traditional art and

architecture. Baring in mind the fact that many of the academic studies that has been written

about this is heavily influenced by Sufism; which advocates the spiritual essence of the faith, and

was considered not only as a way of life, but also “a pursuit for knowledge”. For example, Table I

shows how geometry is understood from a Sufi perspective:

Table 1 Summary of the microcosm and macrocosm representations of numbers in Islamic cosmology and their mathematical attributes. Ardalan and Bakhtiar based this table on Nasr’s translation of the cosmology of Ikhwan al-Safa in his book Cosmological Doctrines. Text in italics is an addition from Kazimee and Rahmani which was found suitable to include in this context. (Source: Ardalan and Bakhtiar, 1973; Kazimee and Rahmani, 2003).

This is rather an interesting perception of numbers and alphabets as basis for creativity if it was

approached in the field of design studies. Therefore, there is a need to first understand the

philosophical stance of religion, and then trace commonalities, if any, with philosophies that are

influencing design thinking today.

Number Geometry Macrocosm Microcosm Mathematical Attributes

0 Divine Essence Divine Essence

The most irreducible of all entities

1 Creator OnePrimordialPermanentEternal

Creator OnePrimordialPermanentEternal

The pointThe principle and origin of all numbers

2 Intellect InnateAcquired

Body divided into 2 parts

LeftRight

One half of all numbers are counted by it

3 Soul VegitativeAnimalRational

Constitution of animals

Two extremities and a middle

HarmonyFirst odd numberOne-third of all numbers are counted by it

4 Matter OriginalPhysicalUniversalArtifacts

Four Humors PhelgmBloodYellow bileBlack bile

StabilityFirst square number

5 Nature EtherFireAirWaterEarth

Five Senses SightHearingTouchTasteSmell

First circular number

6 Body AboveBelowFrontBackRightLeft

6 powers of motion in 6 directions

UpDownFrontBackRightLeft

First complete numberThe number of surfaces/ directions of a cubeThe most appropriate proportional system to define or extend it in space

7 Universe 7 visible planets and 7 days of the week

Active Powers

AttractionSustenanceDigestionRepulsionNutritionGrowthFormation

First perfect number

C. The Collective Voices Shaping the Islamic Creative World: Today, different schools of

thoughts are dominating the Muslim creative world, but it was found that there are two dominant

parties; traditionalists who aim to maintain “spiritual essence” and the forgotten “traditional

wisdom” in the modern world, reproducing the same traditional geometric methods and

applications without generating new designs (Akkach, 2012; El-Said and Parman, 1976). Second,

modernists who are immersed in a globalised world, driven by the development of technology and

creative practice from the modernism and post-modernism movements (Ramadan, 2008).

To recapitulate provocative discoveries in revisiting philosophy; first, what is essential for Sufi

scholars was the importance of not viewing design – or artistic- elements, such as colours, as a

system of their own, rather they are proposing that design elements, forms, colours and materials

should be viewed as part of a total system. This system is integrated through the metaphysical

and symbolic references to achieve “intellectual clarity” (Ardalan and Bakhtiar, 1973).

Second, although the different references on Islamic cosmology and metaphysics have not

been available in contemporary language (Nasr, 1987), and hence may be criticized as

“outdated”, their understanding has been manifested in the “intellectual spheres” through various

available texts (Akkach, 2012). Even though, what is essential here is not the abstraction of the

main philosophical themes, but how to find a way to embed it in a contemporary design language.

Third, the analysis of the academic writing that are influenced by Sufi teachings does not mean

that the realms of Islamic creativity should solely adapt its doctrines, rather it should question the

future towards which the contemporary movements are heading, and whether spirituality should

be an integral ingredient in the creative process.

II. Designer as Researcher

Designers are visual communicators, and so through researches in arts and design

disciplines, the duality of textual and visual materials plays an important “poetic” part in informing

the research process, whether visual materials are found, or created as a response to theory

along the research (Spencer, 2011).

Having said that, using visuals as primary language in research promotes the use of art as a

practice that expands the general understanding of how knowledge can be understood and

represented (Sullivan, 2005). Adapting such an approach can potentially contribute to knowledge

in the sense that it has rarely been used in the field of Islamic art and design.

Through the interrelationship between creating and critiquing, perceptions can be questioned,

alternative concepts can be realized and eventually potential new understandings of Islamic art

and design can be explored. Here, visuals are being categorized into two main types:

A. Visual Diary to Understand Research Findings

Fig I. Art as a visual communicator [Author’s note]: This self-exploration journey through art practice enables the researcher to be in the traditional artist’s shoes and to be closer to his creative process. The simple act of repetition and perfecting the motif each time allow the creative individual to be immersed in the creative “flow” (Nasr, 1987) (Runco, M. A., 2014)

Throughout reading in the various research contexts, it has been noticed that many of the

important points to be considered are the topics that relies “in- between” the contexts. This inter-

textuality created the need to use visual maps as communicative language in order to understand

the complex dynamics of the research. For example, to understand the differences and the

commonalities between schools of thoughts in Islamic world today, a visual map was created as a

comprehensive analogue between traditionalists and modernists, shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 Visual map that demonstrates an analogue between traditionalists and modernists schools of thoughts: their beliefs, their views on tradition, creativity and sacred art [author’s note]. It is only through the on-going accumulation of various references in this map that it was found out that these two schools set at the opposite ends of a wider spectrum of Islamic thoughts today.

B. Visual Mapping to Communicate Research Findings

One of the literature findings is that the availability of the academic references in Islamic

studies and philosophy has been arguably detached from the practice of contemporary Islamic art

and design. Therefore, in order to bridge the gab between academic and creative practice of

Islamic art and design, the research aims at creating links between important scholars, architects,

and designers who constantly challenge and inform the landscape of Islamic production of

knowledge (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3 On-going map shows the “gatekeepers” and important contributors to research landscape, and

their connections with each other. The research investigates the possible connections between them, and

the dynamics of their thoughts that is shaping the Islamic creative terrain today [Author’s notes].

III. Researcher as Curator

In support of adapting “curatorial practice” as a methodological approach in this research;

Sullivan (2005) argues that exhibiting is considered an act of producing series of work for

scholarly inquiry about art and design. More importantly, he describes curation as a cultural

practice that summarise a unique reflexive response from artists, curators, academics, educators,

institutions, and communities.

When it comes to pedagogical dimensions of creativity, curatorial practice has also been

described as an advocate to challenge and inform education:

“The curatorial […] is a disruptive activity. It disrupts received knowledge: what we

understand by art, art history, philosophy, knowledge, cultural heritage, that is all

that which constitutes us, including clichés and hang-ups. In this way, the curatorial

is, […] really an unnecessary disruption of knowledge, that is, paradoxically, but

necessarily, the birth of knowledge.” (Martinon, 2013, p.26)

This way of viewing curatorial practice as a participatory method for autonomy and exchange

made it an adequate methodological approach for this research. Thus, few collaborative sessions

with multi-disciplinary participants have been conducted to validate the philosophical concepts

and literature findings in a creative setting that allow for design experiments. This will allow for

generating innovative prototypes and raw ideas that are can be shared across Islamic design

disciplines, and eventually be developed as a potential alternative basis for the pedagogy of

contemporary Islamic design.

Conclusion

To conclude with, the theoretical/practical framework of this research is, firstly, transformative in

the sense that it constantly undergoes changes as new experiences being added to the reflexive

process. Secondly, it is conceptual because the knowledge obtained in research will be grounded

in its creative outputs (Sullivan, 2005). These creative outputs will appear throughout the

research process in various forms such as exhibitions, and publication, and will potentially carried

out for post-doctoral projects.

As for approaching the research through curating collaborative sessions, it will contribute

academically to the field of Islamic designs in the sense that it will offer a diverse voice rather

than an individual one. The results shall unfold in the coming reflexive journey of the research.

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