Islam and Visual Culture in Contemporary Asia 11th Biennial Hamad bin Khalifa Symposium on Islamic Art Doha, Qatar | November 7-10, 2025We are pleased to invite applications for the Hamad bin Khalifa Symposium Fellowship, supporting attendance and presentation at the 11th Biennial Symposium on Islamic Art, titled "Islam and Visual Culture in Contemporary Asia," to be held in Doha, Qatar, November 7 - 10, 2025.The Symposium seeks to explore the lived experiences of communities in Asia by engaging with contemporary issues related to the fine and performing arts, architecture and urbanism, film and media, archives, biennials, and other forms of material culture. By centering practices, rituals, communities, networks, and sites in Asia that have traditionally been overlooked in the field of Islamic art, the Symposium challenges the West Asian-centric narrative that has historically shaped the discipline. Drawing on contemporary South, Southeast, and East Asian materials, the event will bring together scholars, curators, and artists whose work engages with contemporary art and practice in Asia to examine the diverse roles and resonances of Islam and Muslim lived experiences in shaping regional culture, artistic networks, institutions, and everyday life.Rather than simply adding South, Southeast, and East Asian perspectives to the discourse of Islamic art, the Symposium aims to challenge the limits of the field and interrogate the ways Muslim experiences in Asia intersect with other communal and diasporic narratives. We seek to redefine the field’s boundaries and critically engage with how Islamic and non-Islamic visual cultures interact in dynamic and shifting ways.We invite emerging scholars and artists whose work addresses themes including, but not limited to: migration, identity, transregional methodologies, trans-Asian solidarity movements, communal connections and practices, urbanism, rituals, public interventions, trauma, memory, and cultural intersections. We particularly welcome contributions that challenge fixed categorizations and open up crucial conversations about identity, artistic production, and cross-regional exchanges across Asia and beyond. Our aim is to encourage a broader understanding of Islamic visual culture in a contemporary context, extending beyond conventional definitions of Islamic art.The fellowship provides financial support for up to five exceptional candidates (advanced graduate students or early career scholars/artists) who will make 15-minute presentations on original and innovative research projects in a dedicated session focused on the symposium theme on November 8. All presentations will be recorded and made available on the Symposium website in 2026.Full funding includes:- Round-trip airfare to Doha
- Accommodations and meals in Doha from dinner on November 7 through breakfast on November 11, with lodging offered for up to five nights, November 6-11
- Participation in all symposium events and special excursionsApplication RequirementsCandidates must submit the following materials as a single PDF document through the Symposium website:- Statement of interest (maximum 100 words)
- Title and abstract of proposed paper (maximum 300 words)
- Two-page curriculum vitaeDates and DeadlinesApplication Deadline: April 15, 2025 Notification of Acceptance: May 15, 2025 Full Paper Submission: October 1, 2025To apply, please visithttps://islamicart.qatar.vcu.edu/fellowship-2025/. Questions? Email mabrown@vcu.edu.
