Join Katya for a new in-person course exploring porcelain and its translucent qualities. Porcelain is a unique medium: the plasticity of its particles lends itself to fine detail, its whiteness, uncontaminated by other earth oxides, reflects light and gives a particular luminosity to glazes, and its high-vitrification point makes it incredibly durable and semi-transparent when illuminated.

During this five-day workshop the participants will be introduced to porcelain’s enchanting history: used in China as early as 7th century A.D., attempts to recreate true porcelain in Europe seemed like an act of alchemy and magic. Taking it out of its utilitarian and industrial context, we will engage in the drawing and making process using plaster moulds to impress design details onto the clay’s surface. We will consider a range of making techniques, there will be an opportunity to experiment with matte and transparent glazes, and we will also consider the effects of kiln firing processes. More information and bookings

Katya’s work on magic squares and their relationship to colour and cosmology will be included in a group show which celebrates and explores the School of Traditional Art’s engagement with pigment, It showcases more than 150 pieces of fascinating art by tutors and alumni of the School worldwide from the past 30 years including miniature painting, illumination, gilding, ceramics and stained glass. For further information.

Join us to hear the story of how the signature pattern used by the architects of the SOST building, and its iterations in other design contexts, came about and was developed in close consultation with the grand shaykh of the the Naqshbandī-Mujaddidī sufi order, Hazrat Azad Rasool, before he passed away in 2006.

The workshop will include a visual introduction followed by a practical drawing component where we will explore the geometric principles and constructions underlying the pattern and note how some of these elements aspire to reflect the spiritual practices of the Naqshbandī-Mujaddidīsufi order and act as a valuable aide-memoire for the students progressing on their journey.

We will discuss geometry as a visual language that acts as a bridge between the world of subtle creative principles and the physical world that we live in. Through the drawing process we will also attempt to interweave the contemplative aspects of practical geometric art with historical conceptions of geometry in the Islamicate world.

In-person workshop bookings and furhter info

Online workshop 6th of July bookings

The Kharraqan Towers, a pair of mausoleum-structures dating to the early 11th century, are one of the most notable examples of “bare brick” style architecture from the Seljuk period in Iran. The two octagonal brick towers, with their rounded buttresses, double-dome structures, internal wall-paintings, and striking external calligraphic inscriptions, are most remarkable for the extensive use of elaborate geometric ornament in their external brickwork. Both towers were significantly damaged in an earthquake in 2002, but we are fortunate to have a variety of visual and photographic references recording the condition of the monuments before the earthquake and recent attempts at restoration. Working from these records, in each session we will explore one of the numerous patterns – placed within horizontal panels or framed vertically within arches – on these extraordinary monuments. Gradually moving from simplicity to complexity, we will study the underlying structures of geometric compositions constructed from whole and cut unglazed bricks, considering how the movement of the sun would create an interplay of light and shadow. These drop-in classes run throuout February, April & May, you can join as many sessions as you like, bookings and further info here.

Come and see this rare exhibition of the work of artist-researchers at The Princes Foundation School of Traditional Arts.

This exhibition showcases the work of current and past, postgraduate research students. While the artworks exhibited have their roots in, or are inspired by Islamic, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, or other traditional arts, and come from as far away as China or Nepal, or as close as London, this exhibition reveals the subtle threads which connect the traditional arts across time and space. This allows them to continue to captivate, inspire, and transform artists, as well as others who encounter them. Exhibition video by Elma Hogeboom.

Join our exciting new series of online seminars co-presented by Katya Nosyreva and Bink Hallum. Number games, erudite puzzles, objects of serious mathematical research, conduits for occult properties, or planetary talismans infused with spirits? Magic squares have been considered all these things and more. This course will explore the reception and development of awfāq (sing. wafq) in the Islamicate world that began in the 3rd/9th century and continues to this day.

Over three sessions, we will progress from magic squares to other magic polygons and circles, and finally to magic spheres and polyhedra. In order to expand our appreciation of awfāq on multiple levels, each session will begin with a richly illustrated talk, introducing the various historical and cultural contexts in which these fascinating objects were created and discussed. These historic perspectives will be complemented by a practical component in which we will use geometric methods of construction to re-enact some of the magic squares, polygons, and polyhedra on paper with drawing instruments. We will discuss their mathematical properties and methods for construction and explore their function as complex talismans with occult properties.

This year, in celebration of the King’s coronation, Katya is part of a group of invited Prince’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts graduates from the past decade to join the exhibition at the Saatchi gallery. Full PFSTA catalogue can be accessed here.

Katya will present at the biennial ILEM International Summer School which aims to serve as a forum for discussion of major issues concerning the Islamic world by bringing together academics, researchers and artists from diverse backgrounds. The broader theme of the 8th edition of the summer school will be Rethinking Art and Aesthetics in the Islamic World: Concepts, Theories, and Practices. 

The summer school will explore Islamic arts, which are usually analysed in connection with the notions of “tradition” or “mystical experience” in contemporary intellectual and artistic circles, from theoretical, conceptual, and socio-political perspectives, and open up for discussion the “axial shifts” or even the absence of axis, observable on both ontological and epistemological planes. The purpose here is to shed light on what is beyond the conditional and prejudiced forms of artistic expression. This can be expressed as an attempt to study the possibility of producing aesthetic formulas as the golden middle to save the beautiful from the vortex of two extreme poles of “acculturation” and “cultural schizophrenia.” This is also an attempt to build an aesthetic bridge between the distant past and the future by considering cultural differences as richness. Indeed, the successful result of this attempt is directly proportional to the level of awareness about the recent past and present. Full programme and abstracts can be found here

Katya will exhibit her work and present at the panel entitled Algorithmic Media Disrupt Figurative Thought Patterns, as part of the extraordinary Light Footprint the Cosmos symposium organised by the Substantial Motion Research Network.

Celebrating the substantial motion of thought and/as creative practice, A Light Footprint in the Cosmos will feature presentations by 60 scholars and artists, delivered both online and in person, at the acoustically sophisticated performance venue.

The exhibitions, performances, and curated film screenings are integral to the event. We are delighted to present exhibitions of works of 17 artists, hosted by Vancouver contemporary art venues SFU, Or Gallery and Centre A. The artworks explore, via a wide variety of analogue and digital media, the global circulation and connectivity of theories and technologies, addressing both historical inspirations and contemporary issues. They illuminate hidden connections and reveal diverse yet complementary concepts and practices.

A Light Footprint in the Cosmos affirms the substantial movement of thought and practice by seeking to stage dialogues, provoke discussion and spark new collaborations in order to decolonize media studies, art history and aesthetics.

Join Katya for a series of one-hour long sessions exploring the patterns of the spectacular Ibn Tulun mosque in Cairo.

This majestic structure is the oldest surviving mosque in its full original form. A myriad of beautiful stucco designs ornament the arch soffits and pierced gypsum windows. Each week we will investigate a different pattern and its underlying geometric structure.

As part of their Nature and Nurture programme, Roots and Shoots in collaboration with a number of local makers have prepared home learning packs with different activities for children in Devon. Join Katya with your children to learn how to draw patterns from nature and architecture.

Join Katya for this series of seminars where we will study two remarkable documents dealing with geometric modes of construction. They are believed to have been produced for and by medieval Islamic guilds of craftsmen and architects, and offer an insight into how the principles of practical geometry were used in developing interlocking star and polygon compositions.

Both the textual and the graphic elements of our documents point to exchange between the realms of theory and practice. Taking this theoretical and practical approach, we will begin with a historical and contextual introduction and then reenact some of the diagrams from these manuals ourselves.

https://princes-foundation.org/school-of-traditional-arts/open-programme/lines-of-continuity-exploring-medieval-islamic-manuals-on-geometry-c38e66

Correspondences is an international, peer-reviewed online journal dedicated to the academic study of esotericism. This special issue, for which Katya has been commissioned a cover illustration, features seven articles on a range of intersections between Islam and esotericism.