PRESS INFORMATION ________________________________________________

The Visual Islamic and Traditional Arts Department of the Prince of Wales's Institute of Architecture is pleased to announce its Summer Degree Show.

With Professor Critchlow as Director, Paul Marchant as Deputy Director and other specialist tutors, the Department continues in its commitment to the teaching of both the practice and theory of the visual Islamic arts with the arts of the other great Traditions of the world. The work on exhibition is by three degree students who have just completed our two year M.A. Course, an MPhil student and a PhD student. The skill and beauty of their work demonstrates the dedication and commitment of each one to their chosen fields of interest in the traditional arts.

Students seeking become of great practical help to those in education as well as to St to find a context for their inner need for meaning in their art.

For further details, please contact the V.I.T.A. Administrator at: The Visual Islamic and Traditional Arts Department, The Prince of Wales's Institute of Architecture, Unit 6A, 44 (;Gloucester Avenue, London NW~ 8JD. Tel no.0171 9169740 Fax no. (11 71 916 9741

In the first year of the V.I.T.A. Course, all the M.A. students attend variety of traditional practical arts including geometry, Islam (Arab biomorphic design) and calligraphy (the three principle "language art), as well as techniques shared by other traditions such as letter-stone, architectural drawing, traditional painting techniques - for ~ pigments, gold-leaf and so on. The work on exhibition shows the responses of each student to these classes and the wide variety of of crafts employed.

These include: Hiroko Nagato's (M.A. by Course serene Japanese painted screens; Desmond Lazaro's (M.A. by Cour and delicately painted Indian Pichavais (Krishnaite Temple hangin Rajasthan) from the Indian miniature tradition; Peter Rohde's (M.! analysis of the principals of design of the Hindu temple; Hassan RE (MPhil) study of the traditional houses of Fes and Fatima Zahra H~ by Project) beautiful miniature paintings in the Indo-Persian tradition Visual Islamic and Traditional Arts Department Degree Show Art Connoisseur Callery 95 - 97 Crawford Street London W1H lAN

Private View:

Tuesday 24th June 1997: 5 30 - 8 30 PM Open to public: Wednesday 25th June 1997- Saturday 5th July 1997 Opening Times: Mon - Fri: 10 am - 6 pm Saturday: 10 am - 4 pm Sunday: Gallery closed.

Range of arts and crafts practiced by the V.l.T.A. students all demonstrate an integrity, discipline and commitment to the values inherent with the traditional skills. The Department teaches and encourages an understanding of the culture and background of the traditional arts and the timeless values that they represent; the contemplative nature of, for instance, the careful execution of a geometric design is a lesson in itself showing that the resulting intricate and subtle pattern is not simply superficial decoration but represents a profound beauty.

The distinction made between "Fine Art" and "Craft" is entirely modern - in a traditional society an artist was someone who practiced an art or a craft, his skill was inherently linked to the principles of a much more profound order. The work of the V.J.T.A. Department demonstrates that students from different backgrounds and traditions can work extremely well together, learning from each other's knowledge and experience. Most importantly, through the study of the objective language of geometry they learn to understand the universal basis underlying the art and architecture of the great Traditions of the world - whether it is Islamic, Christian, Buddhist, North American Indian, Hindu and so on. Islamic art is predominantly concentrated on as it is one of the few remaining living traditions. Many people living in the mainly secular culture of the West who have lost touch with the sacred find great compensation and inspiration in the study of sacred art produced by a spiritual tradition other than their own.

All over the world artistic traditions have either died or are under imminent threat of being overwhelmed by mechanical mass production. The work of the V.l.T.A. Department offers some practical support in helping to restore cultural dignity through reviving interest in the traditional arts, and also in creating teachers to pass the message on; in the process it is hoped that a greater understanding and tolerance between cultures is established. Our work has

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