DFG Research Project

Research Fellow: Dr. Moya Tönnies

Project Description

British rule in Palestine 1917–1948 and the dramatic consequences for its Arab and Jewish populations have rarely been investigated from an art historical perspective. The research project focuses on art historical evidence of the conflict during the early phase of British military rule and civil administration. It examines the activities of the British artist Charles Robert Ashbee, who cooperated with the first British Governor of Jerusalem, Sir Ronald Storrs. Together they founded the Pro-Jerusalem Society, a multiethnic, multireligious and multinational association. The project is associated with the DFG-research group „Transcultural Negotiations in the Ambit of Art. Comparative Perspectives on Historical Contexts and Current Constellations“ (FOR1703). In accordance with the aims of the research group the case study looks at the Pro-Jerusalem Society as an example of transcultural entanglement in the Middle East. The project coincides with the newly appointed professorship of Islamic art history and a new focus on this region at the department.