In February, Ilse was invited to give the Richard & Mary Rouse History of the Book Lecture at UCLA as a guest speaker on “On the Introduction of Chinese Decorated Paper to Iran and How it Revolutionised Manuscript Production in the Islamic World”. This lecture offered insights into the circumstances under which Chinese paper was introduced and used in Persianate manuscripts and propose possible reasons for its employment. A further aim was to investigate instances of the adaptation of Chinese paper’s aesthetics in manuscripts produced in the Islamic world.
During her visit to LA, she also visited the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and the Islamic art exhibition. Unfortunately, no manuscript research could be carried out as the storage facilities were moving – but we’ll be back!
Ilse then travelled to New York, where she carried out initial research on Iranian and Central Asian manuscripts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET). This will be continued in September together with Theresa.