Gingertecture is a combination of architecture and caricature. It’s supposed to be beautiful, informative and delicious (plus it smells wonderful).

This is my gift to you to conclude 2024.

This gingertecture is drawn from a qamarīyāt in the Islamic Art Museum in Cairo (object 497/2) which I was lucky to visit in August 2024. This is one of two depictions of a mosque-like building with two conifer trees, while others featured gardens, flowers and intricate patterns.

These clerestory windows are crafted with stained glass and stucco in a wood frame. Displayed in rows near the ceiling, each glass setting is tilted to direct jewel-like light toward the viewer at ground level.

Gingertecture 2024: Qamarīyāt (An Egyptian stained glass window)

Qamarīyāt are vibrant and fragile windows found in historic homes, shrines, Coptic churches and mosques across North Africa, including Egypt through Syria, Iran and Türkiye, and museums worldwide.

My cat enjoys laying on his back, perfectly comfortable. Never seen other cats doing this for as long. #tinyjoys

And the memes contributed as lecture notes in real time by Peter were brilliant quips on the content.

“The Art of Everywhere Else” was my public lecture series from the subject ART241: Global Art Histories. This was an expansion of my original subject ART214: Introduction to Islamic Art and Design, resulting in a global survey centred on Islamicate visual cultures, spectacular and vernacular.

First post. This khayamiya was completed by Hany Mahmoud of the Tentmakers of Cairo. I drew this from Egyptian khayal al-zill shadow puppets in the Lindenmuseum, Stuttgart (originally from Al-Manzala near Damietta, Egypt). This represents the intersection of research, imagination and collaboration.