God is Beauty

I don't think I would have ever gone to this exhibit if it weren’t for this assignment. But I am so glad I went, because I truly thought it was amazing. Islamic culture is something I know next to nothing about, so I feel this exhibit really helped me get more of an understanding of what it is all about. The first thing I noticed was their idea of, God is beauty and beauty is God. The two are basically interchangeable to them. I love that. It is such a pure and honest meaning of God. God created the earth and everything down here, so he created everything that is beautiful. Therefore, he is beautiful. The reasoning is so simple, yet so true. At first, I felt like the Islamic writing was a little foreign, but because it was on everything, I felt very comfortable with it by the end. I remember looking at it and thinking how beautiful even just their writing it. It is so fluid and effortless. Their form of writing is alluring in its self. 


I think that Islamic art is different from Christian art, because they don't just depict religious scenes. In Christian art, it is all paintings of Christ or the apostles or religious stories that are depicted in the bible. I think Islamic art is different, because they take a much broader approach. As I said before, their mindset is that God is Beauty, so they come from a much wider angle. They use anything they can to praise God. I saw lots of plates and vases and stone carvings. There were of course pictures, but I just felt that they used a lot more than just paint and a canvas. They took real items, and used them to portray religious symbols and beliefs. 

There definitely were a lot of geometric patterns and symbols in the exhibit. At first, I didn’t really pay any attention to them, but then I began notice them more and more. I noticed that their writing looked very much like a pattern as well. I really noticed it on the (I don’t exactly remember the name) but the drinking vessel that they drank the holy water out of. One half was covered in a floral design, which was breathtaking, and the other half was covered in writing. I read the little description on the side, and the writing was basically asking for forgiveness from god and to be wiped clean of any sin they had committed. Well dang. That is awfully a lot like the sacrament every week! I loved the little connections I was able to make between Mormonism and Islamic.

I really enjoyed this exhibit. My favorite piece would have definitely been the figure within a figure. If anything, it taught me to be more open and accepting to things that may seem foreign to me at first.