Call for papers “The Mosque in Transformation”, 17th Colloquium of the Ernst Herzfeld-Gesellschaft, 30 June-2 July 2022, Cordoue — LIMITE: 13/03/2022

The mosque, in its diverse architectural and visual expressions and as an institution, is considered one of the most significant manifestations of Islamic cultures. While the basic liturgical concept as a place of prayer is universal, a mosque can acquire further functions, and its form has proven extraordinarily malleable across and within regions and times. Scholarship has dealt with this diversity in studies on formal and conceptual evolution, typologies, and regional or local traditions.Over recent decades many questions became more complicated or persist unanswered. The formal and conceptual sources of the earliest materially extant mosques remain a matter of debate and speculation. Transformations in the visuality, the layout, the elements, and the fittings of the mosque and its place in urban planning have been described from an architectural, archaeological, and historical angle and may require more explanation from a liturgical, religious, social, or ideological perspective. The re-use of mosques in a changing environment (such as in the Iberian Peninsula) has been documented, while its implications for artistic and cultural heritage call for discussion.The 17th Colloquium of the Ernst Herzfeld Society invites recent research on the mosque in transformation, as an architecture and a visual and functional space in continuous evolution, transcending notions of the mosque as a fixed entity.

The organizers invite papers that deal with transformations in the visuality, materiality, and concept of the mosque as seen in architecture and decoration, in furnishings and liturgical elements, in specific functions at specific times, in their changes including usage by other religious communities, and with reference to social, ideological, and historical currents.

Schedule – The Colloquium takes place at Córdoba (Spain), in the Casa Árabe and is organized by Fernando Valdés Fernández of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in collaboration with institutions in Córdoba. It will start with a keynote lecture on the evening of Thursday, June 30, 2022. The Colloquium continues with the main sessions on Friday and Saturday, July 1–2. A meeting of graduate students will take place on Thursday, June 30, for which a separate call is to be circulated. The annual general assembly of the Ernst Herzfeld Society will be held on Friday or Saturday afternoon. For July 3 visits to places in and near Córdoba are foreseen.

The Colloquium is planned as a meeting in presence and on-site while the organizers will also prepare for a hybrid format if the necessity of online participation arises. A detailed schedule and information on the format will follow in due course.

Application – Please submit your proposal for a paper or a panel by March 13, 2022 to Prof. Dr. Fernando Valdés Fernández: fernando.valdes[at]uam.es

– Individual papers: Please submit a title and an abstract of 250 and no more than 300 words.

– Pre-arranged panels: will preferably include three presentations Please submit a title and an abstract of no more than 500 words presenting the topic and aim of the panel, and a provisional list of speakers with abstracts.

– The preferred colloquium language is English. Each presentation is limited to 20 minutes, followed by 10 minutes of discussion (or 30 minutes of discussion per panel).

All proposals will undergo a peer review selection process. Acceptance will be notified in the beginning of April 2022.

If you want to submit a paper proposal for the graduate meeting (separate call), please send your title and abstract to Suzanne Compagnon: suzanne.compagnon@univie.ac.at

Registration for and participation in the Colloquium are free for members of the Society. Other speakers and participants are asked to join the Society by paying the annual membership fee.

Please see: https://ernst-herzfeld-gesellschaft.com/en/beitrittsformular/

We kindly request that speakers and participants make their own travel and accommodation arrangements. A list of hotels located in the vicinity of the Colloquium venue will be made available in due course.

More information: here