Emma Clark
Islamic Garden Design

Lectures and Conferences:

Emma has recently given a lecture on ‘The Art of the Islamic Garden’ on Thursday July 4th 2013. Part of the Aga Khan Summer Programme on Music, Art and Architecture in Muslim contexts. (see www.aku.edu/ismc)

 Lectures 2013:  ‘The Islamic Garden: an Opportunity for Bridge-Building’ for The Olton Project, Solihull, Birmingham, March; and a similar one for the Cambridge Muslim College, June.

 ‘Calligraphy and the Taj Mahal’  at The International Conference in Calligraphy, Lahore, Pakistan, Dec. 9th-11th 2012

‘An Introduction to the Islamic Garden and its application to the Cambridge Mosque Project’ for The Romsey Garden Club, Cambridge,  Nov. 13th 2012

 ‘The Islamic Garden: an Opportunity for Bridge-Building’, The Faculty of Divinity, Cambridge University, February 15th, 2012

Lectures and Conferences:


Generalife, Spain


Generalife, Spain


Isfahan Garden

  1. ‘The Symbolism of the Islamic Carpet’, The Oriental Rug and Textile   Society of Great Britain, Spring 1994
  2. ‘A Vision of Paradise, The Gardens of the Alhambra’, The first International Conference on Religious Art, Tehran, November, 1995
  3. ‘The Persian Miniature in Islamic Art’, Education Dept. of the Malaysian Government, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1996
  4. ‘The Art of the Prayer-Rug: Content and Symbolism’, Mulla Sadra Conference, Tehran, May 1999
  5. ‘The Symbolism of Traditional Islamic Dress’, Conference in honour of Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Washington D.C., November 2001
  6. ‘The Symbolism of the Islamic Garden’, BBC lecture series on Islam, London, September 2001
  7. ‘Aspects of the Symbolism of the Islamic Garden’, Conference on the Traditional Islamic Arts, Al-Balqa Applied University, Amman, Jordan, Sept., 2002
  8. ‘The Islamic Garden as Sanctuary’, The Temenos Academy, London, October, 2002
  9. ‘Islamic Art at The Prince’s Foundation’, British/Saudi Arabian cultural Programme at the British Embassy, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 2003
  10. Lectures on the Islamic Garden at the following places: Birmingham Botanic Gardens (July 2005); The Surrey Garden Design Society (March 2006); The Newbury Garden Symposium (May 2006); The Altrincham Muslim Society (June 2006); The British Museum (June 2006); The Victoria and Albert Museum (September 2007); High Wycombe, ‘The Islamic Garden: an Opportunity for Bridge-building between Cultures’ (March 2009); The Art Fund, London (June 2009); Kensington and Chelsea Women’s Club, London, (June 2009)
  11. Participated in the Syracuse University Symposium, ‘Encounters with Islam, A Symposium on Modern Islamic Culture in the U.K., London, November 2005
  12. ‘The Concept of Unity in Islamic Architecture’, Conference on the Inner Language of Architecture at The Prince’s Foundation, London, May 2007
  13. ‘Beauty breaks down Barriers’: The Role of Traditional Art in Inter-faith dialogue’,Al-Azhar Conference, Cairo, January 2009
  14. ‘The Art of the Islamic Garden, an Introduction’, The International Forum on Doha Qura’nic Garden, Qatar, March 2009
  15. ‘The Role and Significance of Water in the Garden’ (Islamic, English and Japanese gardens) ‘The Festival of Faiths’ conference, Louisville, Kentucky, USA, November, 2009
  16. Talk on the occasion of the Memorial Celebration for the life of Hasan le Gai Eaton, April 2010, The Globe Theatre Lecture Hall, London
  17. ‘The Role of Water in the Islamic Garden’, Victoria and Albert Museum, May 2010
  18. The Islamic Garden: An Opportunity for ‘bridge-building’ Between Cultures, The Love and Etiquette Foundation, Burnley, Lancashire, July 2010 ‘The Islamic Garden: an Opportunity for Bridge-Building’, the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, October, 2010  Presentation on an Inter-faith garden, The Divinity School, University of Cambridge, Nov. 2010   ‘The Universality of the Great Prayer’, private talk, London, December 2010
  19. ‘Heaven and Earth: Aspects of the Symbolism of Colour in Islamic Architecture’. The Temenos Academy, London July 2011
  20. Gardens of Paradise: Flowers as Remembrancers: introductory talk on the occasion of the launch of Professor Keith Critchlow’s book ‘The Hidden Geometry of Flowers’, September, 2011, the Royal Horticultural Society, London SW1
  21. Conference in Lahore, Pakistan, November 2012; Lecture on ‘Calligraphy and the Taj Mahal’