Revisiting the Concepts of Centre and Peripheries in Islamic Art with Geographic Information Systems (GIS): The Creations of Western Islamic Societies

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to review the concepts of centre and peripheries in Mediterranean Islamic art during the late Middle Ages. Traditionally, the idea of a unique Eastern production centre was widespread in historiographical debates; however, in the framework of current research projects, the need to review the well-established concepts of centre and peripheries has been identified. In this context, this paper considers the geographical distribution of muqarnaṣ in the Mediterranean basin between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries from the Almoravid period. In this framework, a double aspect has been analysed to examine: 1) how muqarnaṣ spread from the Almoravid Empire to other Mediterranean areas, and 2) if those Western muqarnaṣ can be related to the Eastern ones or if, on the contrary, they can be considered an independent manifestation of a new production centre located in an area traditionally considered peripheral. To achieve this aim, a geodatabase including the Mediterranean muqarnaṣ ensembles has been created. Different categorised analyses have been developed with a Geographic Information System (GIS), as well as an element concentration analysis, with the Heatmap plugin in the QGIS software, to determine where the centres with the highest concentrations of muqarnaṣ are located. On the basis of the different analyses, innovative cartographic materials have been developed and are included in the study. From the obtained results, it can be concluded that the traditional view of a unique production centre in the case of muqarnaṣ should be discarded.