Theology of Visual Sacredness in the Digital Age: Negotiating Iconography, Identity, and Faith in Contemporary Islamic Art Exhibitions
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: With a focus on iconography, identity, and digitization, this study looks at the theology of visual sacredness in modern Islamic art in the digital age. The primary focus is on how representations of calligraphy, geometry, and light are exhibited as religious symbols that draw attention to the elements of tanzīh, taqdīs, and syi'ar. Curatorial publications of global exhibitions like the Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah supply the primary data for this investigation; it adopts a descriptive Qualitative approach: The Sharjah Islamic Arts Festival and Letters of Light at the Louvre Abu Dhabi provide secondary information derived from scholarly papers, news coverage, and online records. Analysis uses the Miles, Huberman, and Saldana paradigm; source triangulation is used to verify validity. The results show that modern art's use of Qur'anic imagery is not just sustained but also renewed by new media including multimedia installations, augmented reality, and virtual reality. The discourse of identity shows the conflict of Muslim artists with regard to their interior faith and the demands of the worldwide art market, with Strong emphasis on this among Muslim viewers is non-Muslim audience attention on appearance. Digitalization increases accessibility to sacredness yet raises questions about the fading of the aura of holy objects in digital forms. Modern Islamic art serves as a forum for public theology, fusing tradition, belief, and modernity, according to this study.
Source: Pharos Journal of Theology
Language: English
Subfield: Philosophy
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $375
OpenAlex ID: W4417004704