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Arts of the Islamic World (Online)
Year course
+44 (0)20 7942 2000
Our courses are built using the latest Microsoft software. Tune in to expert lectures live or catch up on demand. Join discussions and continue your learning with downloadable handouts and presentations. Find out more >>
Tickets available from 10.00 on Wednesday, 24 June 2026
What is Islamic Art? Embark on a journey of discovery from past to present, as we seek answers to this question: exploring the visual arts of calligraphy, illustrated books and manuscripts, and revealing the wonders of ceramics, metalwork, glass and textiles…
With the emergence of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula and its swift expansion towards Iran and the Mediterranean, a new visual language rapidly evolved, with diverse regional characteristics. Distinctive new styles emerged across ceramics, metalwork, glass and textiles. Illustrated manuscripts reached unprecedented levels of technical refinement. Impressive palace and mosque architecture provided a backdrop to court life and religious practice. Join expert archaeologists, curators, collectors and artists to reveal this fascinating history, and explore the wonders of Islamic art, architecture and artefacts.
This course runs online every Tuesday for 10 weeks online, plus you'll get an extra 10 weeks to catch up once the course ends. Not able to attend live? You can also follow the course on catch up. Want to enrich your learning experience with exclusive access to bonus sessions, such as gallery talks and object study? Check out the in-person version of this course at the V&A South Kensington!
For more details on how our courses work, see V&A Academy FAQs.
With the emergence of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula and its swift expansion towards Iran and the Mediterranean, a new visual language rapidly evolved, with diverse regional characteristics. Distinctive new styles emerged across ceramics, metalwork, glass and textiles. Illustrated manuscripts reached unprecedented levels of technical refinement. Impressive palace and mosque architecture provided a backdrop to court life and religious practice. Join expert archaeologists, curators, collectors and artists to reveal this fascinating history, and explore the wonders of Islamic art, architecture and artefacts.
This course runs online every Tuesday for 10 weeks online, plus you'll get an extra 10 weeks to catch up once the course ends. Not able to attend live? You can also follow the course on catch up. Want to enrich your learning experience with exclusive access to bonus sessions, such as gallery talks and object study? Check out the in-person version of this course at the V&A South Kensington!
For more details on how our courses work, see V&A Academy FAQs.
This course is suitable for participants aged 18 and over.
V&A Academy Course Director
Dr Helen Glaister
Dr Helen Glaister is an art historian specialising in Chinese Ceramics and Decorative Arts. Helen has been Course Director since 2006 and previously worked at the British Museum. She has lectured for Birkbeck College, the British Library and is Senior Teaching Fellow at SOAS. Current research focusses on cultural interactions of the Qing.
What a pleasure to see so many different people from all over the world here! Previous V&A Academy Course Attendee
Membership Priority Booking will open at 10.00 BST on on Wednesday 24 June 2026. General Booking will open at 10.00 BST on Wednesday 8 July 2026.
Our courses are built using the latest Microsoft software. Tune in to expert lectures live or catch up on demand. Join discussions and continue your learning with downloadable handouts and presentations. Find out more >>
Course overview
Get ready to discover 1400 years of Islamic art, and come to know the beauty and breadth of the art, architecture and artefacts with expert lecturers from the V&A and beyond.
Weekly lecture themes include:
Medieval Egypt and Syria
The Safavid Empire
The Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries
…and many more!
By the end of this course, you’ll have a deeper understanding of the breadth of forms, styles and techniques which make up Islamic Art, and will have learned about how Islamic art has developed – and continues to develop – from the Middle Ages right up to the modern day.
Ready to dive deeper? Take a look at the full course programme by clicking 'download programme' below.
Enrol now
Year course: Arts of the Islamic World (Online)
29 September 2026 - 1 December 2026
£300.00
Tickets not available yet
Need help enrolling? Talk to the admissions team:
+44 (0)20 7942 2000
Open 10.00 - 13.00, Monday to Sunday (closed 24-26 December)
Header image: Tile, Iran (probably Isfahan), ca. 1865-1885. Museum Nr. 230-1887