Local-Global Discourse in the Islamic Art; Discourse Analyses of Art in the Geopolitics of the Islamic World

With its common language and symbols among all cultures, the idea of universal art has long been a matter of debate in the theories of art, as opposed to another approach to art that believes in the diversity of artistic styles and genres with an emphasis on the locality of artistic creation. Modern art, presenting pure and abstract forms of art, considered the realization of the universal art as possible. This model of art, however, with its European centralism was criticized in the 1960s. Another wave claiming the realization of universal art appeared in recent decades within the globalization discourse. Nonetheless, like other cultural arenas, this concern remains as whether universal art is developing as pure forms which are common to all cultures or it is Western artistic creation models which are globalizing themselves and imposing themselves as the authorities behind the hegemony of the western world. Will not the result of this current be a move towards conformity in artistic creation and elimination of artistic varieties? The globalization movement has strengthened the antithesis of localization in itself. The strategic revival of regional arts, such as Asian art, Arabic art, African art, as well as national arts, such as Japanese or Cuban arts, by governments and opponents of globalization may be considered as resistance against being digested in universal models. The strengthening and revival of the Islamic art during the last two decades under titles such as the Islamic world art, the Islamic countries art, Muslims’ art, and the Middle Eastern art can be categorized under this movement. In this article, as we deal with various forms of art in the Islamic region, we emphasize the differences among these forms. At the same time, their common point as a cultural resistance against the globalization of art will be analyzed. With an emphasis on the Laclau and Mouffe’s methodological approach to discourse, this article spells out the central signifiers and floating signifiers of modern art in the Islamic world and present its discourse configuration.