Art and Cultural Resistance between Islam and Christianity, lecture by Antony Eastmond (Courtauld Institute of Art), Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, UCLA, February 7, 2019, 5:00–6:00 pm

The eastern frontier between Islam and Christianity in the thirteenth century was extremely porous: artists, merchants and pilgrims carried ideas and goods across it with ease. The results of this movement are visible in the churches and mosques, monasteries and madrasas that survive in modern territories of Armenia, Georgia and eastern Turkey. These buildings are often all but indistinguishable in their construction and decoration, suggesting a picture of deeply interwoven populations. This lecture explores the limits of this convergence, and the evidence for cultural resistance that survives alongside. What roles did buildings play in the projection of different public identities, and why did some choose not to play by the same rules?

Antony Eastmond is A.G. Leventis Professor of Art History and Dean & Deputy Director at the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London. He has published extensively on the world of eastern Christianity and its connections with the Islamic world around it, especially in Georgia and the Caucasus, and Trebizond.

Limited seating. Advance registration requested.