Picturing Islam: Art and Ethics in a Muslim Lifeworld - Softcover

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Kenneth M. George is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and an associate of its Center for Southeast Asian Studies. His ethnographic work on contemporary Indonesian art has been supported by many fellowships including awards from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. George's first book, Showing Signs of Violence, was awarded the 1998 Harry J. Benda Prize in Southeast Asian Studies by the Association for Asian Studies. He also served as the Editor of the Journal of Asian Studies from 2005 through 2008.

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Indonesian painter Abdul Djalil Pirous's pioneering advances in abstract modernism and modern Islamic aesthetics have established him as a leading figure in the world of Asian art. In Picturing Islam, cultural anthropologist Kenneth George explores issues of religion, nationalism, ethnicity, and globalization through the life and work of this original contemporary artist. Working in close collaboration with Pirous, George tells a captivating story about this painter’s pursuit of a political, religious, and artistic identity as it emerged over the course of modern Indonesian history -- from a time of revolution and anti-colonial struggle to the current period of post-authoritarian hope and uncertainty. Along the way, George reveals the artist’s anguished paintings and reflections on the culture of violence that Indonesia unleashed in his ethnic homeland of Aceh, as well as his embrace of Islamic aesthetics and ethics as a way to resist being defined by globalized art styles and discourses emanating from the West.

While providing a compelling and richly drawn portrait of an individual artist, Picturing Islam: Art and Ethics in a Muslim Lifeworld also contributes to a deeper understanding of the cultural politics of Asia’s postcolonial art world as well as the creative and ethical sensibilities of its Muslim artists.

Aus dem Klappentext

Indonesian painter Abdul Djalil Pirous's pioneering advances in abstract modernism and modern Islamic aesthetics have established him as a leading figure in the world of Asian art.   In Picturing Islam, cultural anthropologist Kenneth George explores issues of religion, nationalism, ethnicity, and globalization through the life and work of this original contemporary artist.  Working in close collaboration with Pirous, George tells a captivating story about this painter’s pursuit of a political, religious, and artistic identity as it emerged over the course of modern Indonesian history -- from a time of revolution and anti-colonial struggle to the current period of post-authoritarian hope and uncertainty. Along the way, George reveals the artist’s anguished paintings and reflections on the culture of violence that Indonesia unleashed in his ethnic homeland of Aceh, as well as his embrace of Islamic aesthetics and ethics as a way to resist being defined by globalized art styles and discourses emanating from the West.

While providing a compelling and richly drawn portrait of an individual artist, Picturing Islam: Art and Ethics in a Muslim Lifeworld also contributes to a deeper understanding of the cultural politics of Asia’s postcolonial art world as well as the creative and ethical sensibilities of its Muslim artists.