The Journal of Material Cultures in the Muslim World (MCMW) aims to be a reference for field archaeologists, art historians, anthropologists, curators, and scholars and students of the (art) history, archaeology, architecture, anthropology & ethnography of the Muslim world. This readership represents a new broader definition of material culture that includes not only artefacts, architectural structures and monuments, but also crafts. The journal also aims to inform (other) disciplines and historiographies, by including (unreviewed) archaeological field surveys for example. The journal focuses on un(der)explored Muslim regions outside of the Middle East and Nord Africa: sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian Ocean, Central Asia, India, South-East Asia and Europe.

Approaching Architecture in the Muslim World: Novel Paths of Investigations questions the historiography of the “Islamic Architecture” field by scoring particular instances that fractured its foundations or methods, thereby shaping its objects of study. Our use of the word “approaching” in the title of this volume embraces different purposes, all of which are important to be mentioned. In the first place, the use of the verb approach in its continuous tense underscores the non-ending and constant act of architectural historians in the field to try to understand and explain aesthetic notions as related to materials, technologies, and more importantly, the social demands of the time.

Kana‘an, Ruba and Shalem, Avinoam (editors). Approaching Architecture in the Muslim World: Novel Paths of Investigations. Journal of Material Cultures in the Muslim World , Volume 4 (Issue 2). Leiden: Brill, 2024.

Brill