Laboratory "The International Center of Islamic Studies"

CONTACTS

Phone:  +7 (812) 328-07-12

E-mail:  Rezvan@kunstkamera.ru

LABORATORY STAFF

Prof. Dr. Sci. Efim Rezvan, Head of the ICIS

Dr. Anna Kudriavtseva, ICIS Scientific Secretary, Curator of the Research Area “The Qur’an and Pre-Islamic Poetry”, junior researcher at the Department of Ethnography of Central Asia

External specialists who participate in the programs of the ICIS:

Dr. Igor Pankov, Curator of of the Research Area “Tasawwuf in the Modern World” (under an agreement with “Al-Makam” Foundation)

Dr. Ekaterina Teryukova, Ethnographic museology, history of collections (under an agreement with the State Museum of the History of Religion)

Dr. Irina Osmanova, Ethnographic museology, history of collections (under an agreement with the State Museum of the History of Religion)

Ismail Denil’khanov, “Tasawwuf in the Modern World”. Representative of the ICIS in the Chechen Republic (under an agreement with the Kunta-Khadzhi Russian Islamic University (Grozny)

22 Kunstkamera scholars, belonging to 7 Museum departments, also work on the scientific programs of the Center

HISTORY OF THE CENTER

The International Center for Islamic Studies (ICIS) was established in 2017 by the decision of the Academic Council of the MAE RAS with the participation of the St. Petersburg Regional Information and Analytical Center of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, Moscow Islamic Institute (founded by the Central Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia), State Museum of the History of Religion and “Al-Maqam” Foundation. The basis of the Center’s work is the state target program “Historical and Ethnocultural Heritage of Muslim Peoples in Historical Dynamics” developed by the MAE RAS in collaboration with a number of national and foreign scientific, educational, museum and analytical centers. On February 13, 2018, the MAE RAS signed a cooperation agreement in between the ICIS and the Ibn Sina Islamic Culture Research Foundation, on April 17, 2019 — with the Kunta-Hadji Russian Islamic University. (Grozny), April 25, 2019 — with the Imam Bukhari International Research Center under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

ICIS it is an interdisciplinary laboratory doing the research in the field of knowledge, which is of priority for domestic and world science, designed to play a coordinating role in wide perspective of the Islamic studies, in organizing large-scale field research in regions strategically important for Russia, to ensure the links between the scientific analytics, academic science and practice.

The priority area of the work of the ICIS is the development of partnerships with relevant international scientific organizations and universities. The activity of the ICIS provides for systematic interaction with the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, the Moscow Islamic Institute, the Eastern Faculty of the St. Petersburg State University, Kazan Federal University, Bolgar Islamic Academy, the Husein Faizkhanov Islamic Institute in Nizhny Novgorod, and a number of other higher educational institutions of the country. The ICIS is open for interaction with relevant scientific and museum organizations interested in joining efforts in the study of Islam and ready to contribute to the organization of joint work.

One of the most important tasks of ICIS is the scientific and methodological support for the creation and development of the Research Museum of Islamic Culture, created in St. Petersburg on the proposal of the directors of the largest museums in the city and with the assistance of the administration of St. Petersburg.

MAIN DIRECTIONS OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

• ethnic history and the diversity of the cultural heritage of the Islamic peoples of the world in historical dynamics;
• reflection of the conflict of “local” and “Salafi” forms of Islam in theological controversy over the centuries;
• history and ethnography of everyday life;
• sources on the history and ethnography of Arabia at the turn of the 7th—8th centuries;
• Qur’an and pre-Islamic poetry;
• tasavwuf in the modern world;
• ancient and modern forms of ritual;
• ethnographic religious studies and the history of Islam, the theory and practice of field expeditionary research in the countries of traditional distribution of Islam;
• study of diasporas and methods of adaptation of migrant cultures in a modern metropolis;
• traditional symbolism of material culture;
• ethnographic museology;
• history of collections.

PROGRAMMES OF SCIENTIFIC RESEACH WORK

• Inter-civilizational interaction, ethnic history and the diversity of the cultural heritage of the Islamic peoples of the world in historical dynamics (2017-2020).

GRANTS, PROJECTS

• “Quranic ethnography 1. Material culture of the Qur’an", Fund for Basic Research 18-09-00100 А (2018—2020);
• A series of projects within the framework of the World Society for the Study, Preservation and Promotion of the Cultural Heritage of Uzbekistan (Paris);
• A series of projects within the framework of the Prize for the best mosque in the world (Abdullatif Alfozan Award for Mosque Architecture (3rd cycle) (Saudi Arabia);
• A project for the preparation of a photo album tentatively titled “The Age of Abdulhamid II in the Photo Illustrative Collections of Museums in St. Petersburg” Center for Applied and Scientific Research of Sultan Abdulhamid II (Sultan Abdulhamid II Application and Research Center).

MAIN PUBLICATIONS

Monographs:

• Vasil'kov Ia.V. «Bureborstvennyi puteshestvennik»: zhizn' i trudy Gerasima Stepanovicha Lebedeva (1749—1817) ["A Traveler Fighting a Storm": the Life and Works of Gerasim Stepanovich Lebedev (1749—1817).]. St. Petersburg: MAE RAS, 2017 [in Russian]
• Albogachieva M.S.-G. Islam v Ingushetii [Islam in Ingushetia]. St. Petersburg: MAE RAS, 2017 [in Russian].

Teaching aids:

• Kudriavtseva A. IU., Rezvan E.A. Chelovek v Korane i doislamskoy poezii: uchebnoe posobie) [Man in the Qur'an and the Pre-Islamic Poetry]. St. Petersburg:: Izdatel'stvo SPbGU, 2019 (First edition: St. Petersburg: Prezidentskaia biblioteka, 2016) [in Russian].
• Novik A.A., Rezvan E.A. Islam na Balkanakh. Chast' I. Obriady perekhoda i semeinaia obriadnost' (rozhdenie, obrezanie) [Islam in the Balkans. Part I. Rites of Passage and Family Rituals (Birth, Circumcision)]. St. Petersburg: Izdatel'stvo SPbGU, 2019 [in Russian].
• Rodionov M.A. Iuzhnaia Araviia kak istoriko-etnograficheskii areal. [South Arabia as a Historical and Ethnographic Area] St. Petersburg: Izdatel'stvo SPbGU, 2019 [in Russian].
• Rodionov M.A. Etnokonfessional'naia situatsiia v arabskom mire. [Ethnic and Religious Situation in the Arab World] St. Petersburg: Izdatel'stvo SPbGU, 2018 [in Russian].

Collective monographs: 

• Russkii oriientalizm (nauka, iskusstvo, kollektsii)» [Russian Orientalism: Science, Art, Collections]. Ed. by M.E. Rezvan. St. Petersburg: MAE RAS, 2019 [in Russian].
• Etnosotsialnoye konstruirovaniye i problemy stabilnosti v sovremennykh kavkazskikh obshchestvakh. Kavkaz: perekrestok kultur. Vypusk 2. Otvetstvennyy redaktor: Albogachiyeva M.S.-G. [Ethnosocial Construction and Stability Problems in Modern Caucasian Societies. Caucasus: Crossroads of Cultures]. St. Petersburg: MAE RAS, 2018 [in Russian].

Catalogues:

• Rezvan E. The Magi had Arrived. The Exhibition Catalogue. St. Petersburg: Pervoe tvorcheskoe ob"edinenie, 2017 [in Russian].
• Azerbaijanis (Online Catalog of Collections, 2019, Project leader: M.S.-G. Albogachieva).

Selected articles (in English):

• Rezvan E., Rezvan M. Arabian spices and rites of passage // Manuscripta Orientalia. 2019. Vol. 25. No. 2, pp. 2—6.
• Rodionov M., Suvorov M. Tribal spirit and tribal moral code in South Arabian colloquial poetry // Manuscripta Orientalia. International Journal for Oriental Manuscript Research. Vol. 25 No. 1, June 2019, pp. 9—20.
• Rezvan E. “Men too, and beasts and cattle – diverse are their hues”: towards the Qur’anic ethnography // Manuscripta Orientalia. 2018. Vol. 24. No. 2. P. 3—20.
• Kolesnikova M., Kudriavtceva A., Rezvan E Rezvan M. “Winds Don't Blow the Way Ships Want Them to”. The Fate and Work of Ksenia Kashtalyova. I // Manuscripta Orientalia, 2018, Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 33—42.
• Rodionov M. Ibāḍīs in the written-oral tradition of modern Ḥaḍramawt // Chroniques du manuscrit au Yémen . Special Issue. No.2. Decembre 2018 Ibāḍīs in the written-oral tradition of modern Hadramawt // Chroniques du manuscrit au Yémen. Special Issue. No.2. Decembre 2018, pp. 106—116.
• Rezvan E. St. Petersburg Kunstkamera On-Line Catalogues. III. Towards the Description of Anton Sevruguin Photographic Collection (Dervishes Images). Manuscripta Orientalia, 23/1 (2017), pp. 27—39.
• Rezvan E.A Contribution Towards The History And Origin Of The Katta-Langar/Sankt Petersburg “Qur’ān of ‘Uthmān” Manuscripta Orientalia, 23/2 (2017), pp. 3—9.
• Kudriavtceva A., Rezvan E., Earthly Maiden and Heavenly Maiden (on the Interpretation of the Image of Woman in Pre Islamic Poetry and the Qur’an) // Manuscripta Orientalia, 2017, Vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 10—20.
• Andreev A., Rezvan E., Rezvan M. The letters of the Bukharan Embassy of tūpchī-bāshī Qulī Beg viewed as a primary historiographic source. Manuscripta Orientalia, 23/2 (2017), pp. 10—23.
• Rodionov M. Le manuscrit no.2179 de Tarīm: tarǧama ou autobiographie? // Chroniques du manuscrit au Yémen 24 Nouvelle série 5 Juillet 2017, pp. 94—108.

SELECTED EXPEDITION PROJECTS

• “Material world of the Qur’an (daily life of Arabia from the time of the Prophet)” (Jordan, 2019);
• The Cyprus tasawwuf” (Nicosia—Lefke—Girne / Kyrenia—Magos / Famagusta—Larnaca according to the program of study of European Islam. (Cyprus, 2019);
• Expedition “Islam in West Africa” (Nigeria, 2018);
• International historical and ethnographic expedition “The Material World of the Qur’an (the daily life of Arabia from the time of the Prophet)” (Oman, 2017).

SELECTED INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES

• "Turkology in Russia and the former Soviet Union." International Symposium. Marmara University, January 3—4, 2019. Istanbul, Turkey;
• “The Historical Birth-pangs of Islam & the Origins of the Qur’an”. INÂRAH — Institute for Research on Early Islamic History of the Qur’ān; Institute of Religious Studies of the Universität des Saarlandes, 01-04 May 2019, Schloss Waldthausen, Mainz, Germany;
• "Oriental Studies of Eurasia" International Symposium. Marmara University. October 23—24, 2019, Istanbul, Turkey;
• “III International Congress of the World Society for the Study, Preservation and Promotion of the Cultural Heritage of Uzbekistan“. Cultural Heritage Week “Uzbekistan - the crossroads of great roads and civilizations: empire, religion, culture.” World Society for the Study, Preservation and Promotion of Cultural Heritage. August 22—27, 2019, Tashkent, Termez, Bukhara, Samarkand (Republic of Uzbekistan);
• “IUAES 2019 Inter-Congress “World solidarities” Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan. August, 29—31 2019, Poznan, Poland;
• “200 years of diplomatic support for the Russian presence in the Middle East: the history of the creation and activities of the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Empire.” All-Russian Scientific Conference, State Hermitage Museum, October 3—4, 2019, St. Petersburg;
• The European Qur’an. Launch conference. Universita degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale”. 16—18 October, 2019, Naples, Italy;
• “History and culture of Islam. Russia and the Islamic world. " International Conference. November 8, 2019, Russian State Humanitarian University, Moscow;
• “2nd International Conference on Mosque Architecture”. Abdullatif Alfozan Award for Mosque Architecture, Malaysian Museum of Islamic Art, 25—27.11.2019, Kuala-Lumpur, Malasia;
• First International Conference on Frankincense and Medical Plants: Recent Advances in Research and Industry. Sultan Qaboos University, 30.10—1.11. 2018, Mascat, Oman.