Wendy M. K. Shaw works on the intersection between modernity, colonialism, postcoloniality, philosophy and art in the Islamic world through museums, art historiography, archaeology, religion, film, photography and contemporary artistic production. Her work features a regional emphasis on the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey within comparative perspectives with other regions of the global south and Islamic majority cultural legacies.
How do Archaeological Artifacts Gain Value? From the Ottoman Empire to Contemporary Iconographies of Iconoclasm
How does archaeology acquire value? In light of renewed interest in archaeological value due to war and the purposeful destruction of cultural heritage in Mesopotamia, this lecture considers the legacy of constituting archaeological value in the Ottoman era,and contrasts this with the iconography of iconoclasm which has come to represent Islam in the present day. It then explores how alternative modes of value production, from those of the Ottoman legacy to contemporary art, can alter how we approach the problems of cultural destruction today.
