ince 2004, Shangri La has hosted Scholars-in-Residence whose work complements the collection while also advancing the study and understanding of Islamic art and culture. Selected scholars pursue their own academic research and also present public programs, such as lectures and workshops. In the fall of 2011, Shangri La's Scholars-in-Residence program was recast as a competitive and thematic one. The selected themes parallel strengths of the collection.
2012 Scholars-in-Residence
After a juried selection process, four scholars have been chosen to pursue research projects on the following theme:
Beyond "Decline" and Before "Modern": Later Islamic Art, c. 1722-1940 (see the call for applications)
Marcus Milwright, April 16-May 4
Project Title: Combining Text and Artefact in the Study and Display of Syrian Art of the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century
Project Abstract: Syrian metalwork, glass, and architectural woodwork of the Late Ottoman-French Mandate period in the collection of the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art will form part of a case study which will explore ways of expanding the contextual information (social, economic and cultural) provided in museum displays of Islamic artefacts dating from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. The principal text employed in this study is the Qāmaūs al-Sināʿāt al-Shāmiyya (Dictionary of the Damascene Crafts), a comprehensive list of the crafts of the Syrian capital, compiled between c. 1891 and 1905/06. Other written and photographic sources of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century will also be consulted. I will explore the correlations between these sources and the physical artefacts, and suggest ways in which the study and display of later Islamic craftsmanship can be enhanced through a fuller consideration of the urban environment and historical context.
Dr. Marcus Milwright is associate professor in the Department of History in Art, University of Victoria. His research interests include the art and archaeology of the Islamic Middle East, labour and craft practices in the urban environment, cross-cultural contacts, Ottoman architecture in Greece, and the history of medicine. His publications include The Fortress of the Raven: Karak in the Middle Islamic Period (1100-1650) (Brill 2008) and An Introduction to Islamic Archaeology (Edinburgh University Press, 2010).
As a Scholar-in-Residence at Shangri La, Dr. Marcus Milwright presented an illustrated lecture Texts, Objects and Photographs: Reconstructing the Crafts of Late Ottoman Damascus (full lecture available below). The city of Damascus has long been famous for the quality of its manufacturing crafts. Enameled glass, glazed ceramics, inlaid metalwork, textiles and woodwork are among the crafts that flourished in the city from the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries. This lecture examines the working practices and products of Syrian craftsmen during a time of profound economic and political change.
Texts, Objects and Photographs: Reconstructing the Crafts of Late Ottoman Damascus by Dr. Marcus Milwright from Shangri La Hawaii on Vimeo.
Amanda Phillips, June 25-July 13
Project Title: Ottoman Velvets circa 1730: Demand, Creativity, and Improvement
Project Abstract: My research at Shangri La will combine two themes: the place of later Islamic art in the general narrative of the field and its domestic, sociological and architectural contexts. To wit, I will direct my attention toward the study of an exceptional phenomenon of the earlier eighteenth century by exploring how a category of Ottoman silks actually improved (rather than declined) in quality and appearance. The Foundation owns one of the earlier examples (83.5): a seventeenth-century sitting cushion made in a specific voided and brocaded velvet structure, with an equally specific and somewhat formulaic palette and pattern. This type would be improved upon, perhaps, around 1730, when a new burst of creativity seems to have manifested itself in the weaving ateliers of Bursa. By using evidence amassed during my dissertation research, I intend to show that the shift in aesthetic is tied to a larger aesthetic phenomenon and that a related shift in demand for textiles may have influenced production by giving a spur to greater artistry.
Amanda Phillips received her doctorate in Islamic Art & Archeology from Oxford in 2011. Her dissertation looked at Ottoman silk and gold velvets as objects of fashion, with a focus on the relationship between consumption and production. She is now a Kunsthistorisches Institut/Max Planck fellow at the Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin, where she continues to research how popular consumption of luxury goods shaped the material and visual culture of the early modern Ottoman Empire.
Ulrich Marzolph, Sep. 17-Oct. 5
Project Title: The Art of Illustration in Lithographed Books and Other Expressions of Qajar Art
Project Abstract: In a number of publications since 1997, I have established and contributed to the study of the art of illustration in lithographed books of the Qajar period. While this hitherto neglected field of Qajar art has now been defined and documented fairly extensively, numerous details remain to be studied. My particular interest lies in positioning the field of lithographic illustration in the general context of Qajar art. Lithographic illustration has to be compared to other expressions of "popular" art prevalent in the Qajar period, in particular illustrations on images behind glass, on stucco, on tiles, as well as on carpets or pieces of metalwork. Moreover, the extent of European influence versus inspiration drawing on the previous Persian tradition of manuscript illustration will have to be considered in detail. The result of this research will contribute to an adequate assessment of the social dimension of art in the Qajar period.
Ulrich Marzolph (Ph.D., University of Cologne, Germany, 1981) is Extraordinary Professor of Islamic Studies at the Georg August-University and a senior member of the editorial board of the Enzyklopädie des Märchens in Göttingen, Germany. Besides numerous publications exploring the narrative culture of the Muslim world - in particular Arabic, Persian, and Turkish folktales and popular literature - he has specialized in the study of lithographic illustration in nineteenth century Persian books.
Jennifer Scarce, Nov. 26-Dec. 14 (tentatively)
Project Title: The Role of Qajar Tilework in the Late Islamic Art and Culture of Iran
Project Abstract: Shangri La’s collection of Islamic Art includes a group of tiles from Qajar Iran of late nineteenth to early twentieth century date notable for their range, quality and scale as units of architectural decoration. They illustrate the techniques of tile mosaic inlay and overglaze painting and a design repertoire of foliate and geometrical motifs, calligraphy and pictorial subjects. As a continuation of research into Qajar tilework, I will fully catalogue these tiles and use the data to investigate their role in the context of late Iranian Islamic architecture, design and urban development.
Jennifer Scarce (B.A., F.S.A. Scot, former Curator of Middle Eastern Cultures, National Museum of Scotland, now Honorary Lecturer, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, University of Dundee) has organized many exhibitions on Middle Eastern Culture for the National Museum of Scotland. She has traveled in Iran, Turkey, the Arab Gulf States, and Morocco collecting contemporary textiles and dress for the Museum and pursuing major research projects, particularly on the tilework decoration of Iranian architecture of the Qajar period, on which she has lectured and published extensively. She continues to research both on this important theme and also European travelers to the Middle East, especially those of Scottish origin.
Past Scholars-in-Residence (2004-2011; by invitation)
Thalia Kennedy, September 4-27, 2011
While in residence at Shangri La, Thalia Kennedy will conduct research on Shangri La's Mughal Suite, commissioned in Delhi in 1935, and related collections which will culminate in an academic paper on her findings. She will also present an illustrated public lecture The Mughal Bedroom Suite at Shangri La (click to view full lecture) at the Honolulu Academy of Arts Doris Duke Theatre on September 18. Kennedy is the former Director of the Turquoise Mountain Institute for Afghan Arts and Architecture based in Kabul, Afghanistan. She is a specialist in Islamic and South Asian art and architecture and has held visiting lectureships at the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Institute of Ismaili Studies, and the School of Oriental & African Studies in London.
Linda Komaroff, July 24-August 6, 2011
During her residency, Dr. Linda Komaroff will prepare an essay contextualizing Doris Duke's collecting of Islamic art in relation to contemporary collectors and collections. She will also present an illustrated lecture
Gifts of the Sultan: The Arts of Giving at the Islamic Courts (click to view full lecture) while in residence at Shangri La
. Dr. Komaroff has served as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's Curator of Islamic Art and Department Head, Art of the Middle East, since 1995. She is the author and editor of several books, including an edited volume entitled "Exhibiting the Middle East: Collections and Perceptions of Islamic Art" (
Ars Orientalis, vol. 30, 2000), and has written numerous articles and book chapters on various aspects of Islamic art, particularly pertaining to Central Asia and Iran. Her exhibitions at LACMA include
Letters in Gold: Ottoman Calligraphy from the Sakip Sabanci Collection, Istanbul (1999) and
The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia, 1256-1353 (2003).
Gifts of the Sultan: The Arts of Giving at the Islamic Courts, currently on view at LACMA (June 5-September 5, 2011), is her most recent major international loan exhibition.
Olga Bush, January 1-15, 2011
While in residence at Shangri La, Dr. Olga Bush will study the relationship between architecture and textiles as part of an on-going research project. Dr. Bush received her Ph. D. in Islamic Art and Architecture at the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University in 2006. She specializes in the art and architecture of medieval Muslim Spain (theoretical issues in the fields of architecture, poetry, visual perception and medieval aesthetics). In 2008-2009, Dr. Bush was the Sylvan and Pamela Coleman Research Fellow in the Islamic Department of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. She is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture at Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York. Dr. Bush will present a public lecture at Shangri La on January 8.
Wheeler Thackston, December 3-18, 2010
During his residency at Shangri La, renowned translator Dr. Wheeler M. Thackston, Jr. will translate Persian and Arabic inscriptions on selected pieces in the collections. Dr. Thackston is Professor Emeritus in the Near Eastern Studies Department at Harvard University and distinguished editor and translator of numerous Chaghatai, Arabic and Persian literary and historical sources. His best known works are Persian and Classical and Koranic Arabic grammars, as well as his translations of the "Baburnama", the memoirs of the Mughal prince and emperor Babur, and the memoirs of Emperor Jehangir, or the "Jehangirnama". He has also produced important manuals or editions of texts in Lebanese Arabic, Ottoman Turkish, Syriac, Uzbek, Luri, and Kurdish. Dr. Thackston will present a public lecture “Islamic Calligraphy: Form Function and Decoration” at Shangri La on December 11.
In the video below, Dr. Thackston translates the inscriptions on the entry court doorway (64.1b).
Yves Porter, July 13-31, 2010
While in residence at Shangri La, Islamic Art Historian Dr. Yves Porter will examine and research Shangri La’s collections placing special emphasis on Persian tiles. Porter is a professor of Islamic art history at the University of Aix-en-Provence and at the Institute of Art and Archeology in Paris. He is the author of several books including The Art of the Islamic Tile, Palaces and Gardens of Persia, and The Glory of the Sultans: Islamic Architecture in India, 1100-1880. He will present a public lecture at Shangri La on July 24, discussing innovations in Persian ceramics.
Layla S. Diba, December 7-19, 2009
Dr. Diba is an expert on the Qajar period of Iran. During her tenure as Curator of Islamic Art at the Brooklyn Museum, she organized and researched the ground-breaking exhibition and catalogue Royal Persian Painting: the Qajar epoch, 1785-1925 . More recently she has served as Visiting Professor at the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design and Culture. She was the Director and Chief Curator of the Negarestan Museum of 18th and 19th century Iranian Art from its inception in 1975 until 1978. She has also served as an advisor to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Jewish Museum, The Louvre, the Textile Museum of Washington, D.C., The Guggenheim Museum and the Mobil Oil Corporation. During her residency, Dr. Diba will study examples of Qajar art in the Shangri La collection and advise on education programs.
Sheila Blair and Jonathan M. Bloom, February 23–March 6, 2009
Sheila Blair and Jonathan M. Bloom received their doctorates in Islamic Art from Harvard University. They share the Hamad bin Khalifa Endowed Chair of Islamic Art at Virginia Commonwealth University and the Norma Jean Calderwood University Chair of Islamic and Asian Art at Boston College. Together, they are the authors of more than a dozen books, including The Art and Architecture of Islam: 1250-1800 (1994) and Islamic Arts (1997). Their book Islam: A Thousand Years of Faith and Power (2001) was written as a companion to the 3-part PBS television series, “Islam: Empire of Faith.” During their residency, Doctors Blair and Blooms will author an introductory essay on color in Islamic art and culture for the forthcoming symposium they are organizing in Cordoba, Spain. In conjunction with his residency, Dr. Bloom will give a public lecture at the Honlulu Academy of Arts on February 28 at 4pm.
Carl W. Ernst, June 23-July 4, 2008
Carl W. Ernst is a specialist in Islamic studies, with a focus on West and South Asia. He holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University and is the William R. Kenan, Jr., Distinguished Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His current projects include Muslim interpretations of Hinduism and the literary interpretation of the Qur’an. While serving as a Shangri La scholar in residence, Dr. Ernst will be preparing a book manuscript on the Qur'an as literature. His published research, based on the study of Arabic, Persian, and Urdu, has been mainly devoted to the study of Islam and Sufism. His most recent book, Following Muhammad: Rethinking Islam in the Contemporary World , has received several international awards, including the 2004 Bashrahil Prize for Outstanding Cultural Achievement. He will present a free public lecture at Shangri La on June 26, 2008 from 6:00-8:30pm.
Morris Rossabi, February 25-March 14, 2008
Morris Rossabi, an expert on the history of East and Central Asia, is currently writing a book on the topic of Islam in Asia to be published by Oxford University Press. Taking advantage of Shangri La’s contemplative and quiet environment, Dr. Rossabi will primary spend his residency preparing this book manuscript and with his particular interest in visual culture, he will explore the Shangri La collection for objects suitable to his research. Dr. Rossabi holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University and is now a Professor of History at Columbia University and also City University of New York. He will present a public lecture at the East-West Center on February 27, 2008 from 6:30-8:30pm.
Tomoko Masuya, October 16-30, 2005
Tomoko Masuya is a noted specialist in 13th and 14th century Persian culture, especially ceramic arts. During her residency, she will study the Shangri La collection to further the research that she first began for her dissertation on the topic of architectural decoration at the 13th-century Persian palace Takht-i Sulaiman. She is particularly interested in the ambivalent phenomena of new Chinese motifs and the simultaneous persistence of traditional Persian motifs in the palace arts. Masuya is Associate Professor of Islamic Art at Tokyo University’s Institute of Oriental Culture. She holds her Ph.D. in Art History from New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts and has published widely in both English and Japanese. She will present a free public lecture at the Honolulu Academy of Arts.
D. Fairchild Ruggles, May 26-June 7, 2005
‘Dede’ Ruggles, an art and architectural historian, is one of the very few internationally recognized scholars of non-Western landscapes and the built environment. She has published extensively on Islamic landscapes in Spain and India and is recognized for her highly interdisciplinary approach to researching the built environment. During her residency at Shangri La, she will continue her research into Islamic landscapes and how they have inspired non-Muslims to create uniquely beautiful gardens. Ruggles, an associate professor of landscape architecture at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, received her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Annie-Christine Daskalakis Mathews, May 24-June 2, 2004
Annie-Christine Daskalakis Mathews, an art historian who is an authority on room interiors from Ottoman Damascus, will document and research two rooms at Shangri La which originally came from Syria. The 19th-century Damascus Room and Turkish Rooms came from Syria and are among the highlights of Shangri La. For a rising merchant class in Damascus, the lavish decor of painted walls, ceilings and cut marble floor conveyed social status, wealth and prestige. At Shangri La, Doris Duke adapted these interiors to serve as a guest room and to showcase her collections. Daskalakis Mathews is completing her dissertation focused on Syrian interiors at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.
Carol Bier, January 10–24, 2004
Carol Bier, a scholar focused on the intersections of art and mathematics, explored mathematical aspects of Islamic art that inform a beauty of form, pattern and structure. As the first scholar-in-residence at Shangri La, she studied and documented the uses of symmetry, geometric constructions and algorithms in Islamic art. Bier is a Research Associate at the Textile Museum in Washington, D.C. where she served as curator of Eastern Hemisphere collections from 1984 – 2001.