Hybrid Conference – Stucco Decoration in the Architecture of Iran and Neighbouring Lands: New Research – New Horizons

CONFERENCE REGISTRATION OPEN: Stucco Decoration in the Architecture of Iran and Neighbouring Lands: New Research – New Horizons (University of Bamberg, 4-7 May 2022)

Islamic Art and Archaeology at the University of Bamberg is pleased to announce the forthcoming conference dedicated to research on stucco decoration in Iran and the neighbouring lands. The aim of this conference is to bring together scholars from several countries and to communicate the latest research finds and innovative methodology for research of stuccos.

The event will take place in presence with extension in hybrid-remote form, at the University of Bamberg, May 4-7, 2022.

Registration for participation in the conference (in presence or on line) is now open. Conference participation is free of charge thanks to generous funding by the Fritz Thyssen Stiftung.

To register for the conference, please provide your contact, academic affiliation and modality of your participation (in presence or on line) in an e-mail to Ana Marija Grbanovic by May 1, 2022.

For further information concerning the event, please refer to the following this link.

CONFERENCE PRELIMINARY PROGRAMME

Stucco in the Architecture of Iran and Neighbouring Lands: New Research – New Horizons

A conference hosted by the University of Bamberg Islamic Art and Archaeology, Institute of Oriental Studies

Venue: Schillerplatz 17, 96049 Bamberg

Wed 4 May 2022             

Location: Dominican Library Hall

18:00     Welcome address - Opening (L. Korn),  Refreshments  

                          

Thu 5 May 2022               

Location: Institute of Oriental Studies, Room 00.13

09:00     Conference Registration             

09:30     Opening Remarks (L. Korn)        

10:00-12:00  Panel 1: Research of Persianate Stuccos: Past, Present and Future - Chair: Lorenz Korn

 Renata Holod:  Recovering Rayy: Erich Schmidt’s Excavations at Rayy, Iran, and their contribution to the Study of the Material Culture of Medieval Iran

 Barbara Finster: Medieval stucco decorations in Yemen

 Sheila Blair: Stucco workers, luster potters and builders: the case of Hasan ibn ʿAli ibn Ahmad ibn Babawayh al-Vidguli

 Yves Porter and Anais Leone: Stucco vs Luster in Ilkhanid Iran

12:00     Lunch Break      

13:30-15:30 Panel 2: Pre-Islamic to Saljuq Periods - Chair: Ana Marija Grbanovic

 Meysam Labbaf-Khaniki and Atefe Shekofte: Identification and Technical Examination of the Stucco Decorations from Bazeh-Hur in North-Eastern Iran

 Niloufar Ehteshami: Continuuity or Discontinuity in stucco motifs from Sasanian to the Early-Islamic periods: finds from the Jahangir and Gowriyeh Sites in Ilam, Iran

 Maryam Moeini: Some little-known pre-Ilkhanid architectural revetments from the Friday mosque of Tabriz

 Iman Aghajani: The Development of the Stucco Decoration during the Early Seljuq Period in Iran

15:30     Coffee Break    

16:00-18:00 Panel 3: Western Boundaries - Chair: Parviz Holakooei

 Simone Struth: ‘Like the pearl-bright star’ - Abbasid stucco material from Samarra

 Andrea Luigi Corsi: Beyond the ‘Samarra Styles’: Reconsidering the 10th-century Stuccowork in Deir al-Surian as a Reflection of Post-Samarra Mesopotamian Stucco Production

 Robert Hillenbrand: Iranian Saljuq stucco in Anatolia

 Bernard O’Kane: Mamluk stuccos - the Iranian Connection?

18:30     Visit to the University of Bamberg Museum of Islamic Art (the Bumiller Collection)

Fri 6 May 2022            

Location: Institute of Oriental Studies, Room 00.13

09:00-10:30 Panel 4: Ilkhanid Stuccos  - Chair: Iman Aghajani

Ana Marija Grbanovic: Patterns and Constellations of Ilkhanid Stucco Production

 Bahareh Taghavinejad: Some Pieces of Evidence of the Personal Style of Damghanian Artists in the Stucco Decorations of the Ceiling of Sofeh Darvish in Isfahan Grand Mosque

 Elaheh Alvandiyan: Introduction and recognition of stucco technique of the tomb of Seyyed Roknuddin Yazd

10:30     Coffee Break    

11:00-13:00 Panel 5: Techniques and Archaeometry - Chair: Lorenz Korn

 Parviz Holakooei and Amir Hossein Karimy: Blue ‘Out of the Blue’: Scientific Studies on the Blue Pigments Applied on Persian Stuccos

 Moslem Mishmastnehi and Tomasz Stawski: Crystals of Gypsum in Hands of Masters: Interdisciplinary approach to understand the Chaîne opératoire of Seljuk and Ilkhanid Stuccoes

 Marco Brambilla: Pre-fabricated stucco decorations in Sultaniyy

 Stefan Masarovic: Material Examination of five Seljuk and Muzafarrid Carved Architectural Decoration Stucco Segments: 3 monumental figurative panels and 2 further objects preserved at the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha

13:00     Lunch Break      

14:30-16:30 Panel 6: Eastern Boundaries - Chair: Moslem Mishmastnehi

Viola Allegranzi and Sandra Aube: Stuccoes of the Noh Gonbad mosque in Balkh

Ruslan Muradov: Restoration of the Mihrab of the Mashhad-Ata Mosque in Medieval Dahistan

 Richard McClary: The Qarakhanid Stucco Decoration in the Shah Fazil Tomb at Safid Buland,Kyrgyzstan: A Unicum in Context

Valentina Laviola: Ghazni Stuccoes. From an Old Excavation to a Synergic Study of the Architectural Decoration of the Ghaznavid Palace

16:30     Coffee Break    

17:00-18:30 Panel 7: New Ideas and Approaches - Chair: Sheila Blair

Ruba Kanaan: Matter, mode, and making: stucco in the legal texts of Iran and Central Asia (11th-13th c.)

Katherine Hughes: The fabric of the building: The ecology of Samanid stucco ornament and non-representational haptic space

Giuseppe Labisi: Stucco Decoration in Semi-Domes Squinches. Sasanian Architectural Heritage within Early Islamic Architecture

19:00     Dinner 

                             

Sat 7 May 2022                

Location: Institute of Oriental Studies, Room 00.13

09:30-11:30 Panel 8: Conservation and Preservation of Stuccos - Chair: Amir Hossein Karimy

 Rosario Paone: Esfahan, IsMEO restorations of stucco and plaster in the seventies

 Hamed Sayyadshahri and Mohammad Mortazavi: Reconstruction of Missing Parts of the Stucco Decorations: Some Restoration Experiences

 Yaser Hamzavi: The contemporary challenge for conservators to preserve creative stuccoes from the past: Molded stucco of the tomb of Sayyid Rukn al-Din and Sayyid Shams al-Dinin Yazd

 Majid Montazer Zohouri and Iman Aghajani: Archaeological Studies on Islamic Stucco Decorations in the Storage of National Museum of Iran

11:30     Coffee Break    

12:00     Final Discussion and Closing Remarks               

Moderator: Lorenz Korn - Discussants: N.N.

13:00     Lunch Break      

                              

In the afternoon: Excursion to historical monuments with stucco decoration, either in the old city of Bamberg or at Kloster Banz and Vierzehnheiligen

Ana Marija Grbanovic

On behalf of the Conference Organization Team: Iman Aghajani, Lorenz Korn, Moslem Mishmastnehi