Khamseen: Islamic Art History Online, founded under the University of Michigan in 2020, is a free, open-access platform dedicated to supporting the study and teaching of Islamic art, architecture, and visual culture. In addition to educational content, Khamseen supports large-scale digital projects involving significant cultural artifacts and historic sites.
Its latest project is a collaboration with the Sadberk Hanım Museum (SHM), set to run from 2025 to 2027. Co-directed by Prof. Dr. Christiane Gruber (University of Michigan) and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aslıhan Erkmen Birkandan (Istanbul Technical University), this initiative will unite a group of esteemed local and international scholars specializing in Islamic and Ottoman book arts.
The project will focus on scholarly and digital explorations of selected masterpieces from SHM’s collections. Notably, all project outcomes will be published bilingually (English and Turkish) on the Khamseen platform, an unprecedented step for the project offering lasting and accessible knowledge for researchers, educators, and the wider public.
This collaboration marks a significant milestone in increasing global access to reliable and scholarly resources on Islamic and Ottoman visual heritage.