O'Kane, Bernard

PERSONAL:

Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland; son of Hugh O'Kane and Angela O'Clery-Clarke; married Amina A. Serang, January 1, 1984; children: Rory Omar, Layla Angela. Education: Queen's University of Belfast, LL.B, 1971; Edinburgh University, Ph.D., 1982.

ADDRESSES:

Office—American University in Cairo, P.O. Box 2511, Cairo 11511, Egypt. E-mail—bokane@aucegypt.edu.

CAREER:

Art historian, educator, writer, and editor. British Institute of Persian Studies, Tehran, Iran, assistant director, 1976-79; University of London, school of examinations department, London, England, assistant examiner, 1979; American University in Cairo, Cairo, Egypt, instructor in department of Arabic studies, 1980-82, assistant professor, 1982-86, associate professor, 1986-93, professor of Islamic art and architecture, 1993—, assistant director of the Center for Arabic Studies, 1985-86. Also visiting associate professor of Islamic art and architecture, Harvard University, 1991-92; visiting professor of Islamic art and architecture, University of California, Berkeley, 1995-96. Work related activities include member of the advisory board for Muqarnas, 1995—, and member of the program committee of the Historians of Islamic Art, 1997-98. Exhibitions: Author's photographs have been exhibited in "A Journey: From Iran to Central Asia," American University in Cairo Fifth Floor Gallery, 2005, and "Investigating Nature" (joint exhibition), Falaki Gallery, American University in Cairo, 2006.

AWARDS, HONORS:

British Institute of Persian Studies fellow, 1975; Excellence in Research award, American University in Cairo, 2004-05.

WRITINGS:

Timurid Architecture in Khurasan, Mazda Publishers/Undena Publications (Costa Mesa, CA), 1987.

Studies in Persian Art and Architecture, American University in Cairo Press (Cairo, Egypt), 1995.

Early Persian Painting: Kalila and Dimna Manuscripts of the Late Fourteenth Century, I.B. Tauris (New York, NY), 2003.

(Editor) The Iconography of Islamic Art: Studies in Honour of Robert Hillenbrand, Edinburgh University Press (Edinburgh, Scotland), 2005.

(Editor) The Treasures of Islamic Art in the Museums of Cairo, American University in Cairo Press (New York, NY), 2006.

Treasures of Islam: Artistic Glories of the Muslim World, Duncan Baird (London, England), 2007

Contributor to books, including Encyclopaedia Iranica; The Cairo Heritage: Essays in Honour of Laila Ali Ibrahim, edited by Doris Behrens-Abouseif, 2001; Historians in Cairo: Essays in Honor of George Scanlon, edited by Jill Edwards, 2002; Studies in Honour of J. Michael Rogers, edited by Doris Behrens-Abouseif, 2004; Studies in Honor of Arthur Upham Pope, edited by Abbas Daneshvari, 2006; contributor to periodicals, including Iran, Asar, Annales Islamologiques, and Oriental Art. Also editor, with Thabet Abdullah, Hamdi Sakkut, and Muhammad Serag, of Arab and Islamic Studies in Honor of Marsden Jones, 1997. Member of editorial board of Islamic Art and Architecture Series, 1993—.

SIDELIGHTS:

Bernard O'Kane, an art historian and expert in Islamic art and architecture, has written and edited numerous books in his field. In his 2003 book Early Persian Painting: Kalila and Dimna Manuscripts of the Late Fourteenth Century, the author examines the illustrated medieval Islamic texts known as Kalila and Dimna or The Fables of Bidpai. These important texts, which present morality tales, have been translated into numerous languages, including Greek, Spanish, Turkish, Latin, and Hebrew. They were ultimately published around the world, from Europe to the Far East. Most of the fables feature talking animals, primarily two jackals named Kalila and Dimna, who serve the Lion King. The characters of the two jackals are diametrically opposite, with Kalila being honest and true while Dimna is a liar who constantly becomes involved in troubling intrigue. The texts originated in India, where they were first written in Sanskrit and then translated to old Persian and eventually to Arabic. The author specifically focuses on seven manuscripts of the fables dating back to the latter half of the fourteenth century and the excellent examples that they contain of Persian paintings in manuscripts.

Denys Johnson-Davies, writing a review of Early Persian Painting for the Al-Ahram Weekly Online, noted that the author's "comments are useful and often draw one back for a second look at the illustration concerned." Johnson-Davies also noted that "the illustrations, splendidly reproduced, open the door on classical Persian painting, while the stories themselves, if not already known, will show how it is that Kalila and Dimna can continue to delight."

In Treasures of Islam: Artistic Glories of the Muslim World, which was published in 2007, the author not only focuses on his specialty of Islamic art and architecture but also examines the many empires and dynasties over the history of Islam. The book includes reflections on everything from one of Islam's earliest mosques to various monuments, such as the Great Mosque of Damascus and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. In his examination the author also explores mosaics, carvings, manuscripts, calligraphy, and other artistic and architectural works related to Islam. The book contains numerous full-color illustrations. "He does a credible job of surveying a vast panorama of art and culture," wrote a Publishers Weekly contributor of O'Kane's work. Donna Seaman, writing in Booklist, noted that the author's "clear, instructive, and enjoyable commentary explains how the tenets of Islam shaped … Islamic art and architecture."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 1, 2007, Donna Seaman, review of Treasures of Islam: Artistic Glories of the Muslim World, p. 28.

Choice, March, 2007, L. Nees, review of The Treasures of Islamic Art in the Museums of Cairo, p. 1159.

Journal of the American Oriental Society, October 1, 1989, Linda Komaroff, review of Timurid Architecture in Khurasan, p. 710.

Medieval Review, September, 2005, David J. Roxburgh, review of Early Persian Painting: Kalila and Dimna Manuscripts of the Late Fourteenth Century.

Middle East, August-September, 2003, Fred Rhodes, review of Early Persian Painting, p. 65.

Publishers Weekly, August 20, 2007, review of Treasures of Islam, p. 63.

Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies, July, 2005, Marianna Shreve Simpson, review of Early Persian Painting, p. 942.

ONLINE

Al-Ahram Weekly Online,http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/ (June 19, 2003), Denys Johnson-Davies, "Talking to the Animals," review of Early Persian Painting.

American University in Cairo,http://www1.aucegypt.edu/ (January 20, 2007), faculty profile of author and author's curriculum vitae.