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SUMMARY:Percy Arfeen-Wegner: Transcending Boundaries: Sacred Spaces in Pre
 modern and Early Modern Malabar\, South India
DTSTART:20240712T120000Z
DTEND:20240712T140000Z
DTSTAMP:20260430T012905Z
UID:percy-arfeen-wegner-transcending-boundaries-sacred-11504@ceres.rub.de
CATEGORIES:
DESCRIPTION:This dissertation explores the architectural heritage of Malab
 ar\, southwestern India\, renowned for its rich biodiversity\, vibrant cul
 ture\, and historical religious pluralism. The study investigates historic
 al traditions of building sacred spaces — temples\, mosques\, churches\,
  and synagogues — from c. 13th/14th centuries to the 17th century\, emph
 asising the convergences of architectural practices across religious divid
 es.\n\nWhile previous scholarship has acknowledged the visual parallels am
 ong these religious edifices\, it has largely overlooked the historical ev
 olution of building traditions and their intricate interplay across cultur
 es shaping Malabar’s architectural landscape. This dissertation challeng
 es two widely prevailing perspectives in architectural studies: first\, th
 e notion that non-Hindu religious architectures in Malabar borrowed from 
 “Hindu” building traditions\; and second\, the belief that global arch
 itectural exchanges began with Portuguese influences in the 16th century\,
  primarily evident in church architecture. These views have led to uncriti
 cal acceptance of binary oppositions such as Indic vs. non-Indic and Easte
 rn vs. Western traditions\, often oversimplifying the multifaceted evoluti
 on of architectural traditions over centuries.\n\nThis dissertation transc
 ends such categorisations by utilising the theoretical and methodological 
 framework of Transculturality. The framework provides a comprehensive appr
 oach to understanding cultural interactions\, exchanges\, and transformati
 ons across different spaces\, moving beyond traditional approaches that em
 phasise fixed boundaries and essentialist notions of cultural identity. It
  enables a nuanced understanding of historical building practices and thei
 r inherent diversity\, demonstrating the dynamic and transformative nature
  of building traditions. Furthermore\, it recognises historical (dis)conti
 nuities and adaptability of traditions across religious divides\, allowing
  for the nuanced exploration of connections\, patterns\, convergences\, an
 d divergences of architectural practices.\n\nThrough meticulous analysis o
 f nearly eighty edifices\, Sanskrit building treatises\, and other archiva
 l sources\, the dissertation situates historical building traditions withi
 n the regional socio-cultural and political context of Malabar while conne
 cting them to the broader cultural exchanges of the Indian Ocean World. Th
 is study contributes by establishing a robust analytical framework and pro
 viding comprehensive architectural analyses that reframe architectural tra
 ditions and practices as the shared heritage of multiple cultures within a
  region. It enriches existing scholarship across the fields of Art and Arc
 hitectural History\, Archaeology\, and Cultural & Religious Studies\, open
 ing up avenues for inquiry into historical architectural practices of plu
 ralistic cultures beyond Malabar. 
LOCATION:CERES-Palais\, Raum "Ruhrpott" (4.13)
URL:https://ceres.rub.de/de/events/percy-arfeen-wegner-transcending-bounda
 ries-sacred/
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