The Dubai Public Library will conduct rich educational and creative sessions on the topic of “Islamic Civilization” until October 2022 as part of the School of Life project, which the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) started in June.
The October program for School of Life, which spans Al Safa Art and Design, Al Twar, Al Mankhool, and Hor Al Anz public libraries, highlights the diversity of Islamic civilization in all fields of science and art, as well as the values it entails. These factors undoubtedly influenced shaping humanity and establishing the scientific progress seen in our modern world.
The program includes discussions on a variety of Islamic arts, from visual arts, which will be covered in the session titled Introduction to Islamic Art, to the fundamentals of architecture, which will be covered in Elements of Ancient Islamic Architecture, as well as one titled An Introduction to Mosque Architecture. The program will also cover the arts of handicrafts that thrived in the shadow of Islamic civilization, such as the glass industry, which left behind treasures of exquisite glass artifacts that are now scattered throughout the world. This industry will be highlighted in a session titled “Glass in the Golden Age of Muslim Civilization.” Other sessions will focus on Early Islamic Textiles: Inscribed Garments, which covers the art of creating and designing Islamic textiles, and sessions honoring Arafat.
The program also invites the general public on a trip through the art of Islamic ceramics to learn about scientific advancements, such as stone paste ceramics and tin-opacified glazing, which are thought to be some of its most cutting-edge at the time. In addition to navigating the worlds of Nabatean poetry through the poems of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai, during the session “UAE’s Literary Heritage: Nabati Poetry,” there will be another session on Islamic book painting with manuscript painting in the late medieval Islamic world across various regions.
Through a series of year-round interactive and educational workshops, the School of Life project seeks to create an innovative learning environment across Dubai’s public libraries. This is done in an effort to inspire the emirate to let loose its creative energies and create space for them in order to advance its growth and development.