Pearls of Wisdom

Christiane Gruber is Associate Professor of Islamic Art in the History of Art Department at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her research interests span medieval Islamic art to contemporary visual culture. She has authored two books on Islamic texts and images of the Prophet Muhammad's ascension and has edited several volumes on Islamic book arts, ascension texts and images, and visual and material culture.

Ashley Dimmig is a Ph.D. student in the History of Art Department at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her research interests include Persian and Turkish early modern and modern visual culture, with a special emphasis on textile arts and Ottoman imperial tents. She is the author of "Fabricating a New Image: Imperial Tents in the Late Ottoman Period," published in the International Journal of Islamic Architecture (2014).