Reflections on Movement: New Installations in Historical Dervish Sites of İstanbul

Considerable attention has been given of late to many Asian, Middle Eastern, and Near Eastern artists such as Shazia Sikander, Cai Guo-Qiang, and Shirin Neshat, who have brought to the United States art forms rooted in distinctly Eastern traditions. Numerous articles, exhibitions, panels, and documentaries have highlighted these artists’ integration of traditional techniques such as miniature painting, calligraphy, and ukiyo-e prints into contemporary American art-making practices. By focusing however, on what these Eastern artists have brought to the United States, this attention has overlooked that which is being sought by an equally significant migration of American artists going in the opposite direction.