Author: Theresa Zischkin

GLOBAL DECO PAPER Workshop at LMU: A Deep Dive into Decorated Paper Traditions In March, the ERC project GLOBAL DECO PAPER held a three-day workshop at LMU Munich, bringing together the full research team along with newly affiliated researcher Dr. Jake Benson, an expert on decorated—and especially marbled—paper. The event proved to be an enriching opportunity for in-depth… Continue reading MUNICH, March 2025

In February 2025, Ilse and Theresa embarked on yet another journey to India. During their one-week stay in Patna, Bihar, they explored a fascinating collection of manuscripts from Central Asia, India, and Iran at the Khuda Bakhsh Open Public Library (KBOPL). As expected, their research revealed a stunning variety of decorated papers. Their findings were… Continue reading PATNA, February 2025

Humayun’s Tomb, Red Fort, and Ugrasen ki Baoli The next work trip brought Ilse and Theresa back to India. During the first stop in Delhi, they celebrated the Diwali festival and visited the Red Fort, the Tomb of Humayun, and the National Museum of Delhi. At Red Fort’s Chhatta Chowk Bazar, they had an interesting… Continue reading NEW DELHI & RAMPUR, November 2024

Exploring NYC Following the success of the Hamburg workshop, Ilse and Theresa set off for New York City to continue their research on manuscripts at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Theresa looking at the art of paper cutting and the Nan wa Halwa (MET 1999.157) After a day of sightseeing—complete with a boat tour, a… Continue reading NEW YORK, September 2024

In late September, the GLOBAL DECO team participated in the “Materiality of Sufi Manuscripts” workshop, hosted by the Cluster of Excellence “Understanding Written Artefacts” and co-organized by Ilse Sturkenboom at the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures in Hamburg. This event marked the conclusion of a three-part series within the research network on Sufi… Continue reading HAMBURG, September 2024

Starting off the workshop!   A brilliant conference awaited us in Uzbekistan at the end of May, organised by Dr Bruno De Nicola of the Austrian Academy of Sciences with his project “Nomads’ Manuscripts Landscape” and the Austrian Science in cooperation with the Institute of Iranian Studies of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the Abu… Continue reading UZBEKISTAN, May 2024

At the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin (SBB)   In May, Theresa travelled to Berlin to assist Dr Sebastian Bosch from the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC) in Hamburg and master’s student Valentina Yanez with the analysis of several manuscripts. These analyses were already partially conducted before the pandemic, with Ilse as the partner… Continue reading BERLIN, May 2024

Chester Beatty Library   At the end of March, we went back to the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, where we were now able to examine manuscripts and folios that had previously been on display, as well as some other exciting manuscripts. We would like to thank Dr Moya Carey and her amazing team for… Continue reading DUBLIN, March 2024

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… Continue reading LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK, February 2024