Claire Dillon
@clairedillon.bsky.social
Art historian of the medieval Mediterranean and its afterlives in the past, present, and future. Specialist in silk textiles and Sicily.
PhD Candidate @ Columbia / Fellow @ the American Academy in Rome
PhD Candidate @ Columbia / Fellow @ the American Academy in Rome
My research on the Cathedral of Mogadishu was just featured in Geeska! In this interview, we explore how a medieval Sicilian cathedral inspired this Fascist-era monument, the hidden labor that built it, and the myth of “peaceful conquest” that its design embodied:
www.geeska.com/en/claire-di...
www.geeska.com/en/claire-di...
October 19, 2025 at 5:20 PM
My research on the Cathedral of Mogadishu was just featured in Geeska! In this interview, we explore how a medieval Sicilian cathedral inspired this Fascist-era monument, the hidden labor that built it, and the myth of “peaceful conquest” that its design embodied:
www.geeska.com/en/claire-di...
www.geeska.com/en/claire-di...
Reposted by Claire Dillon
In celebration of the @sah1365.bsky.social's fifth annual virtual conference, we've removed the paywall from the current issue of the "Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians." Access it here: online.ucpress.edu/jsah/issue/8...
#SAHVirtual2025
#SAHVirtual2025
September 17, 2025 at 9:07 PM
In celebration of the @sah1365.bsky.social's fifth annual virtual conference, we've removed the paywall from the current issue of the "Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians." Access it here: online.ucpress.edu/jsah/issue/8...
#SAHVirtual2025
#SAHVirtual2025
Reposted by Claire Dillon
This is excellent research by Claire Dillon and great reading. A fine example of medievalism and modern colonialism between Cefalú, Sicily; Rome; and Mogadishu online.ucpress.edu/jsah/article...
Transforming Cefalù in Mogadishu: The Arabo-Normanna Cathedral of Italian Somalia and the Façade of “Peaceful Conquest”
Abstract. The Cathedral of Mogadishu now stands in ruins as a shell of Italian colonial ambition in Somalia. Built largely from 1925 to 1928, its peculiar design presents an unusual case study among t...
online.ucpress.edu
September 17, 2025 at 4:21 PM
This is excellent research by Claire Dillon and great reading. A fine example of medievalism and modern colonialism between Cefalú, Sicily; Rome; and Mogadishu online.ucpress.edu/jsah/article...
My article about the Cathedral of Mogadishu is free to read and download until October 22: online.ucpress.edu/jsah/article...
In this first comprehensive study of the monument, I argue that its neomedieval design conveys a coercive message of coexistence between the colonizer and the colonized.
In this first comprehensive study of the monument, I argue that its neomedieval design conveys a coercive message of coexistence between the colonizer and the colonized.
September 17, 2025 at 4:32 PM
My article about the Cathedral of Mogadishu is free to read and download until October 22: online.ucpress.edu/jsah/article...
In this first comprehensive study of the monument, I argue that its neomedieval design conveys a coercive message of coexistence between the colonizer and the colonized.
In this first comprehensive study of the monument, I argue that its neomedieval design conveys a coercive message of coexistence between the colonizer and the colonized.
You can read about my time at the American Academy in Rome in this recent interview, which covers everything from medieval silk to the archives of modern missionaries, and the connections that are formed when living among designers, makers, and artists.
www.aarome.org/news/feature...
www.aarome.org/news/feature...
March 13, 2025 at 1:28 PM
You can read about my time at the American Academy in Rome in this recent interview, which covers everything from medieval silk to the archives of modern missionaries, and the connections that are formed when living among designers, makers, and artists.
www.aarome.org/news/feature...
www.aarome.org/news/feature...