Reflections

A beautiful encapsulation of the institution that inspired it, Reflections is a cornucopia of words and images for lovers of Islamic art.

The Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar, houses manuscripts, textiles, ceramics and other works from the seventh century to the present day, and is one of the world's most encyclopedic collections of Islamic art. The origin of its artifacts ranges from Spain to Egypt to Iran, Iraq, Turkey, India and Central Asia. Reflections, edited by British-Egyptian novelist and critic Ahdaf Soueif, showcases these works, and creates a work of art in itself. More than twenty writers and thinkers from around the world, including Adam Foulds, Kamila Shamsie, Suad Amiry, and Pankaj Mishra, have taken works in the museum's collection and used them to launch essays, poems, and other pieces which allow the reader to explore 14 centuries of Islamic art and culture. Luxuriously designed to reference traditions of Islamic art and book design, as well as the landmark MIA building designed by I.M. Pei, Reflections is illustrated with photographs of the pieces the writers have chosen as their inspiration.

Contributors include:

Adam Foulds · Anton Shammas · Eric Hobsbawm · Ghassan Zaqtan · Jabbour al-Douaihy · James Fenton · Jim Khalili · Kamila Shamsie · Marcus du Sautoy · Najwa Barakat · Nasser Rabbat · Oliver Watson · Pankaj Mishra · Philip Hensher · Radwa Ashour · Raja Shehadeh · Riz Ahmed · Sarah Maguire · Shirin Neshat · Slavoj Zizek · Sonia Jabbar · Suad Amiry · Tash Aw · Youssef Rakha

Ahdaf Soueif (editor) is the author of the bestselling The Map of Love which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1999. Ms Soueif is also a political and cultural commentator. A collection of her essays, Mezzaterra: Fragments from the Common Ground, was published in 2004, as was her English translation of poet Mourid Barghouti's memoir I Saw Ramallah. She lives with her children in London and Cairo.