Imperial Landscapes: Recontextualizing Mughal Mobility, Environment, Emotion, and Memory

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Keynote Lecture | 2023 HIAA Symposium
This lecture on March 2 is presented in conjunction with the opening celebrations for the new Art of the Islamic Worlds galleries and the “Expanding Contexts” symposium of the Historians of Islamic Art Association. The HIAA Symposium continues at the MFAH on March 3 and at Rice University on March 4. Scroll down for more information.

“Imperial Landscapes: Recontextualizing Mughal Mobility, Environment, Emotion, and Memory”
At the peak of the greatest success and power of the Mughal Indian royal court, their near-constant movements played a pivotal role in the formulation of rule, as the sovereign reasserted his connection to and ownership of the territories of South Asia. This lecture—working through the expansive and layered contexts of nomadic statecraft, movement and mobility, emotion, exile and memory, and environmental studies—explores the ways in which their itinerancy influenced the development of Mughal social networks and built environments, profoundly impacting the rulers’ relationship with the natural world.

About the Speaker
Lisa Balabanlilar is the Joseph and Joanna Nazro Mullen Professor in the Humanities, chair of the department of transnational Asian studies, director of the Chao Center for Asian Studies, and professor of history at Rice University.

Plan Your Visit
Keynote Lecture at the MFAH | March 2
This program takes place in Lynn Wyatt Theater in the Kinder Building, with seating on a first-come, first-served basis. Admission is free. On Thursdays, the Museum is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. The new galleries for Art of the Islamic Worlds open in the Law Building on Sunday, March 5, as part of the MFAH New Beginnings Spring Festival.

HIAA Symposium | March 3 & 4
Free and open to the public with registration.
Register Here
• Friday, March 3 | MFAH, Lynn Wyatt Theater
• Saturday, March 4 | Rice University Campus