Throughout history, Islamic geometric patterns and arabesque designs have moved west, influencing everything from art to jewelry to home goods. What is culture? In today’s globalized world, we are familiar with seeing various cultural objects and ornamentation outside of their original location or context. If culture is not fixed and bound to a particular location, how does culture move and transform? Ornamentation in Islamic art—patterned decoration or embellishment seen on objects or in architecture—is a great example of such movement of culture that can now be found across the world. Throughout the centuries, Islamic geometric patterns and arabesque (Islimi) designs—otherwise known as biomorphic, floral patterns—have moved from east to west.
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