The Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) has announced it is organising a series of free online workshops focusing on Islamic art motifs to be conducted by visiting artist Laurelie Rae.
According to MIA’s website, the online course will “exclusively use the patterns from objects found in the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha’s collection” and “explore the history, symbolism and pattern construction of these patterns.”
There are four workshops, each of which is dedicated to one object or a series of objects that have similar patterns, it said, adding the courses are catered to both beginners and novice students.
The series of workshops will kick off on July 27 with “Mughal Motifs Inspired by the Saf Carpet” which will teach the participants how to make the jaali pattern similar to that found in the Saf Carpet, as well as create the Mughal lily, rose and carnation motif.
This will be followed by “Uzbek Geometry and Biomorphic Tile Patterns” on July 29 which will draw attention on the geometric construction of the tile fragment found in MIA collection particularly on eightfold geometry and the construction of the central biomorphic motif.
On August 3, the workshop will be on “Iznik and Damascene Ceramic Motifs” highlighting the comparison between the two distinct styles.
The class will centre on teaching the participants Damascene Rose motif and Halic or Golden Horn motif. The workshops will conclude on August 5 with “Clouds, Trees and Animals” focusing on honing the participants’ ability to draw motifs with less geometric structures. In particular, the course will explore the symbolism of the Cypress tree, cloud band and various animal motifs such as lion and peacock as well as teach the participants how to draw stylized versions of each of the motifs.
All the workshops will be delivered by Laurelie Rae, a teaching artist, who is living and making art in Istanbul since 2014 and whose areas of interest include Islamic ceramics, drawing and illustration. Rae is an author and museum education consultant who specialises in traditional and Islamic art methods and techniques. Those interested to take part in any of the workshops may register through MIA’s website.
