by Jon Lackman | 20 March 2006 | Islamic, Museums
Art historian Rebecca Smith comments on the recent New York Times article, “Southeast Asia, Too, Is on Map of Islamic Art“: “I’ve realized what really gets me about [Met curator Stefano] Carboni’s statement [that the Met's exhibit of Southeast Asian Islamic art was probably more a cultural experience than an artistic one]. Western Islamic art is Western and therefore Art. non-western Islamic art is non-western, non-civilized, and therefore culture. we often do the nature/culture binary, with parallels to barbaric/civilized, feminine/masculine, Other/Self. But in the context of the low art/high art debate, or even the non-art/art dichotomy, culture becomes the lesser term, producing a culture/art dichotomy that Carboni uses here.”
