سرآغاز تاريخ‌نگاري هنر اسلامي در بوتۀ استشراق، استعمار، مجموعه داري

The Beginning of Islamic Art Historiography in the Crucible of Orientalism, Colonialism, and Collecting

عرصۀ تاريخ­نگاري و مطالعۀ هنر اسلامي حدود دو سدۀ پيش در مغرب­زمين نمايان شد. رويكردهاي جديد تاريخ­نگاري و آشنايي با متون اسلامي، درك دستاوردهاي تمدن اسلامي، از جمله هنر را ساده­تر كرد. اندكي بعد، گروهي از معماران به شوق ديدار بناهاي كهن اسلامي راهي اسپانيا شدند. دست­اندازي استعماري يا روابط سياسي قدرت­هاي غرب در سرزمين­هاي اسلامي، پاي جهانگردان طراح و معمار را به اين مناطق باز كرد. حاصل اين سفرها انبوهي طرح و تصوير از بناهاي كهن بود كه مردم غرب را با معماري اسلامي آشنا مي­كرد. در مرتبه­اي ديگر، خريد و فروش اشيا با حضور مشتريان اروپايي و وساطت دلالان بومي، سيل آثار هنرها و صنايع كهن اسلامي را به مجموعه­ هاي غرب سرازير كرد. در اين بين، نقش نمايندگان موزۀ كنزينگتون جنوبي در لندن پررنگ­تر بود. در اين نوشتار مراتب نخستين برخوردهاي غربيان با ميراث هنر اسلامي در سه مرحلۀ شرق‌شناسي، سفرهاي هنرشناسان غرب به سرزمين­هاي اسلامي در دورۀ استعمار، و گردآوري آثار هنر اسلامي در مجموعه‌هاي غربي بررسي شده است. روش كار مطالعه و تحليل اسناد، گزارش­ها، و مقالاتي است كه خودِ غربيان دربارۀ پيشينۀ مطالعات هنر اسلامي نوشته ­اند. در انتها روشن خواهد شد عرصه­اي كه امروز با نام هنر اسلامي براي همۀ هنرپژوهان جهان دانشي شناخته و مدوّن است، محصول همين برخوردهاي خام اوليه است.

The field of historiography and study of Islamic art appeared about two centuries ago on the fringes of oriental studies of Western linguists, litterateurs, and historians. The New approaches to historiography and passion for getting acquainted with Islamic texts through translation and correction, facilitated understanding of the various aspects of Islamic civilization, including art. The setting up of Arabic language courses at European universities was another way of Westerners acquaintance with Islamic culture. Following these trends, the interest in Islamic art and architecture began to develop from the late eighteenth century onwards, receiving a great impetus from the first wave of European expansion. A little later, some groups of architects and draftsmen, enthusiast for visiting Islamic monuments, went to Spain, which had great monuments of Islamic architecture. The colonial occupation and political relations of Western authorities, specially Germany, France, and United Kingdom, in Islamic lands, from Morocco and North Africa to Anatoly, India, and Iran, brought travelers with architectural and designing skills to these area. Drawing and registering survived and destroyed buildings, collecting objects and items, as well as designing and categorizing them, were among common practices. The results of such efforts were a copious of designs and pictures from Islamic monuments, which introduced Islamic architecture to the Western people. Thus, until about the middle of the nineteenth century, travelling to Islamic lands and drawing monuments were the most important attempts of those who interested in the arena in the West, most of them either were architects or had interested in architecture. In another phase, trading of Islamic items between European clients and local brokers, led to be acquired a plenty of works of Islamic art and crafts by Western museums and collections. Meanwhile, the role of the agents of South Kensington Museum in London was more prominent. The buyers and collectors of Islamic items in this period considered the main source of artistic creativity in the Islamic world not Anatolia, Syria and Egypt, but Iran. The esteem for Persian Art that was developing among European collectors and art institutions resulted in a period of intensive acquisition in Iran. Several years of drought and famine in Iran exacerbated the situation. The first European collector to be active in Iran was the Frenchman Jules Richard, also known as Mirza Riza. Among the latter, the most prominent was Robert Murdoch Smith, who in 1873 offered his services to the South Kensington Museum. These, and other, activities enabled new area of Persian art to become known in Europe. As we have seen, the study of Islamic art as it emerged in the early twentieth century has clear political and cultural reasons. In this article, we read the story of the Westerners encounters with the legacy of Islamic art by revising the narratives of European scholars themselves. In the end, we will see that the arena today known by the name of Islamic art for all the art scholars in the world, product of these initial encounters.