Understanding the Material Culture of Islamic Paper and Inks

Islamic paper, i.e. paper produced in the Islamic cultural realm, is a particularly underexplored aspect of Islamic material culture.

Although paper was first produced outside China already in 750 AD, our knowledge of historic paper and ink is dominated by research into Western papermaking.

However, Islamic paper and inks are particular in their use of polishing practices, use of starch as a filler, use of dyes and use of specific inks.

ISLAPAP aims to fill the knowledge gap through material science research of both reference material collections and actual manuscripts, and through archival research into paper- and ink-making recipes in medieval and early modern art-technological sources and treatises.

ISLAPAP will further illuminate historic papermaking practices through experimental evidence, which will benefit manuscript scholars.

Material science will be used to explore the durability of Islamic paper in order to develop preventive conservation advice.

It is namely not known how the typical Islamic papermaking practices of polishing and starch sizing affect the stability of the cellulosic support, and it is currently not known how corrosive Islamic inks are.

This knowledge will be of use to libraries and archives hosting Islamic paper collections globally.The research will be carried out at University of Ljubljana as the Host institution with world-leading expertise in heritage science, which will be complemented with the Fellow's skills in archival research and conservation research.

The Fellow will study medieval and early modern archival art technological sources and treatises with references to papermaking and ink manufacture.

An intensive training programme is planned that will allow the Fellow to develop into a world-leading researcher in the field of Islamic paper collections, supported by a communication and dissemination plan ensuring excellent global impact.