This talk will discuss the different styles of the architectural decorations in Islamic Cairo, focusing on the arabesque from the 9th to the 16th century.
The arabesque was a common design used in the architecture of Islamic Cairo. In the early periods, it was used on stucco and continued to develop on many different other métiers, not as individual patterns, but rather on inscriptions. It then developed in stone, wood, glass and metal, reaching the highest levels of its sophistication in later centuries.

Dr Tarek Swelim is an Associate Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture in the College of Islamic Studies, at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar. He obtained his PhD. from Harvard in 1994, and a MA from the American University in Cairo in 1986. Dr Tarek Swelim is the author of Ibn Tulun, His Lost City and Great Mosque (AUC Press, 2015). He is currently completing his new book on the Mamluks entitled, A Mamluk Sultan’s Era. Lately, Dr Tarek Swelim has contributed to the new exhibition catalogue, The Arabesque: An Introduction (IAMM Publications, 2018), which will be launched at the British Museum in London, on 17 October 2018.

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