A royal picnic (detail), from ʿAttar, Intikhab-i Hadiqa, c 1575
This program outlines the proceedings for each day of the Love and devotion Persian Cultural Crossroads conference on 12–14 April 2012.
For more details, read the abstracts for the papers that will be presented, or see the keynote speaker biographies.
Thursday 12 April
| Time | Session | Paper & speaker |
|---|---|---|
| 4–6pm | Registration (State Library of Victoria, Entry 3 foyer, La Trobe Street) | |
| 7–8pm | Opening keynote address (Please note venue: Storey Hall, RMIT, 342 Swanston Street, Melbourne) Chair: Shane Carmody (Director Development, State Library of Victoria) Introductory speaker: Sue Roberts (Chief Executive Officer, State Library of Victoria) |
The 'arts of the book' & the diffusion of Persian culture Dr Charles Melville (Professor of Persian History and Director of the Shahnama Project, University of Cambridge) |
Friday 13 April
| Time | Session | Paper & speaker |
|---|---|---|
| 9–9.50am | Registration | |
| 9.50–10am | Welcome & official opening Chair: Shane Carmody (Director Development, State Library of Victoria) | |
| 10–11am | Session 1: Keynote address Chair: Shane Carmody (Director Development, State Library of Victoria) | Illustrated talismans in the Bodleian Kitab al-bulhan Dr Stefano Carboni (Director, Art Gallery of Western Australia) |
| 11–11.30am | Morning tea (provided) | |
| 11.30am–12.30pm | Session 2: Love and devotion in Persian literature and art Chair: Prof Amin Saikal (Director, Centre for Islamic and Arabic Studies, Australian National University)
|
Paper 1 – Love or devotion in Persian literature and beyond Dr Firuza Abdullaeva (Head of the Shahnama Centre, University of Cambridge) Paper 2 – From Qays to Majnun: the evolution of a legend from ʿUdhri roots to Sufi allegory Alasdair Watson (Curator of Islamic Manuscripts, Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford) Paper 3 – Paradigms of Sufi love: the examples of Rabiʿa, al-Ghazali and Rumi Dr Süleyman Derin (Associate Professor of Sufi Studies, Marmara University, Istanbul) |
| 12.30–2pm | Lunch (provided) | |
| 2–3pm | Session 3: Keynote address Chair: Dr Gillian Green (President, The Asian Arts Society of Australia) | Women in Rumi's spiritual circle Dr Zahra Taheri (Lecturer in Persian Language and Literature and Iranian Studies, Australian National University) |
| 3–3.30pm | Afternoon tea (provided) | |
| 3.30–5pm | Session 4: Dialogue with the West Chair: Prof Constant Mews (Director, Centre for the Study of Religion and Theology, Monash University) | Paper 1 – Plato's loves and Shakespeare's women Dr Danijela Kambaskovic-Sawers (Assistant Professor, Shakespeare and Renaissance Studies, University of Western Australia; Associate Investigator, ARC Centre for the History of Emotions 1100–1800) Paper 2 – Safavid Persia through European eyes Clare Williamson (Exhibitions Curator, State Library of Victoria) Paper 3 – Politics and Persian mythology in Thomas Moore's 'Paradise and the peri' Dr Shelley Meagher (independent scholar, Melbourne) Paper 4 – 'Twofold and yet One am I': constellating creativity between Goethe and Hafiz Dr Marcelo Stamm (Vice-Chancellor's Senior Research Fellow, RMIT University) |
Saturday 14 April
| Time | Session | Paper & speaker |
|---|---|---|
| 9–10am | Registration | |
| 10–11am | Session 1: Keynote address Susan Scollay (guest co-curator, Love and devotion exhibition) |
The Khamsa of Nizami and the Khamsa of Amir Khusrau: some simularities and differences reflected in their illustrations Dr Barbara Brend (independent scholar, London) |
| 11–11.30am | Morning tea (provided) | |
| 11.30am–12.30pm | Session 2: From Persia and beyond Chair: Dr Nick Hill (Director, External Affairs, Australia India Institute, University of Melbourne) |
Paper 1 – Behind the scenes: the Bodleian Library's Mughal paintings of love and devotion Lesley Forbes (former Keeper of Oriental Collections, Bodleian Library, University of Oxford) Paper 2 – The Oxford Dilsuznama, MS. Ouseley 133: an Ottoman manuscript, written in Persian, copied in Europe Susan Scollay (independent scholar, guest co-curator of the Love and devotion exhibition) Paper 3 – The conceits of poetry: Firdausi's Shahnama and the discovery of Persian in early modern Europe Dr Mario Casari (Lecturer in Arabic Language and Literature and Persian Language and Literature, Sapienza University of Rome) |
| 12.30–1.30pm | Lunch (provided) | |
| 1.30–3pm | Session 3: The contemporary legacy Chair: Robert Heather (Manager, Collection Interpretation, State Library of Victoria) |
Paper 1 – Heart of fire Hossein Valamanesh (visual artist) Paper 2 – Sufis of the Antipodes: the Ghazal in modern Australian poetry Dr Ali Alizadeh (Lecturer in Creative Writing, Monash University) Paper 3 – Persian or Islamic? Depictions of love in contemporary Iranian cinema Anne Démy-Geroe (film scholar and PhD candidate, University of Queensland) Paper 4 – 'The language of love': the legacy of Persian poetry and music in contemporary Iran Dr Gay Breyley (Adjunct Research Associate, School of Music-Conservatorium, Monash University) |
| 3–3.30pm | Afternoon tea (provided) | |
| 3.30–4.30pm | Session 4: Keynote address Vic Elliott (former University Librarian, Australian National University) |
Authenticity and the act of devotion and friendship in the poetry of Maulana Jalal al-Din Rumi Dr Mammad Aidani (ARC Research Fellow, School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, University of Melbourne) |
| 4.30–4.45pm | Closing remarks | Shane Carmody (Director, Development, SLV) |
| 6.30–7.45pm | The play of Daniel |
