In the first weeks of November 2018, the second part of ISOA’s faculty exchange program with Goethe University took place and this time Goethe University was host to the Iranian group constituting with ISOA’s President, Dr Seyed Mohammad Hussein Navab, Noble faculty Member Dr. Seyed Abolghasim Zharfa, Professor of Art History Seyed Amir Kooshei, And Director of International office, Mohammad Hussein Ashtiani. The main program for the trip was to finalize the terms of collaboration in regards to the previously signed agreement between the two institutions.
ISOA’s team was also invited By The Center for World Music at Hildesheim University to discuss the terms of a new agreement.
More than 15 meetings and academic discussions took place during this trip in Frankfurt, Berlin, Hildesheim, and Hamburg which we will mention of them briefly.
Sareban: A trip to Iran
Photo exhibition
In May, upon the German Team’s visit to Iran, we talked about the possibility of running a photo exhibition entitled: “An Aesthetic experience in Iran” with the collaboration of the two institutions. Dr. Kam from Goethe University along with 4 Students of ISOA (Ms. Soleimani, Ms. Zohrabian, Mr. Tarkhan, and Mr. Mirabian), provided 50 pictures from Iran’s landscape, art, and architecture, and people, and they were all displayed in the Goethe University’s West campus. The opening ceremony took place on November 4th with a lecture by Goethe university’s Vice president in the presence of Students, Academics, and ISOA’s Team.
Mutual Meetings with Goethe University’s Officials
In order to finalize the plan of action for our mutual program with Goethe University, several meetings took place during the ISOA’s team stay in Frankfurt. In these meetings, the terms of our students and faculty exchange for 2019 were finalized and we are going to explore the field of Islamic art and Christian art in the coming year. this interdisciplinary program will engage the departments of Islamic Studies, Archeology and ISOA’s department of Philosophy of Art. the exchange program will be provided for M.A. and PhD students of both institutions.
Meetings on the study of Beauty and Art in The Holy Quran
Since ISOA is active in the field of Quran and Art and is currently working on the Project for the encyclopedia of Beauty and art in Quran and Hadith, we decided to have some meetings related to this field. three meetings were arranged with Professor Angelika Neuwirth, Professor Claus Peter Haase, and Dr. Michael Marx. in these meetings, the recent ideas, and approaches to Quran and Art were discussed and the need for further cooperation between the scholars was emphasized.
A lecture by ISOA’s Professor at Goethe University
Mr. Seyed Amir Kooshei, ISOA’s Professor of History of Islamic Art was invited by Goethe Unversity on November 7th to have a Lecture on “Islamic art and contemporary world”. In this lecture he defined the term “Islamic Art”, Similarities between Islamic Art and the Art of other nations and religions, the necessity of research and studying Islamic Art in today’s world and the relation between Islamic art and the contemporary world.
Forming the Basic structure of a Joint Conference on Muslim Fashion
Goethe University plans to have a conference on Muslim clothing and fashion in the next spring. due to our previous agreement, ISOA will collaborate on this project and ISOA’s team along with Professor Wicke and Dr Simon discussed the theoretical and logistical requirements of this collaboration.
The effect of Islamic art on the dialogue between Shi’a and Sunni
In this meeting, ISOA’s Team discussed the Effects and the influence of Islamic art on the dialogue between Shi’a and Sunni and their unity, with Professor Omar Ossoy (Director of Institute for the study of Islamic Culture and Religion) Dr. Fatemeh Rahmati, Professor Bekim Agai, and Professor Armina Omerica and Also the presence of Mr. Khalilzadeh, (Director of the Center of Islamic Culture in Frankfurt and Chairman of the Islamic Community of Shiite communities in Germany).
A Meeting in Hildesheim University
After visiting the Museum of the Center for World Music at Hildesheim University, a meeting took place and the representatives of ISOA discussed the terms of a new program with Professor Vogles (director of the center) and a series of Ph.D. Student exchanges for short-term studies and faculty exchange was agreed upon. The subject of this cooperation will be Music in Islamic Philosophy and Mysticism.
