AIDA SMAILBEGOVIĆ, MA

Born in Sarajevo in 1985, graduated in history of art and Turkish language and literature from the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Sarajevo. She gained her master's degree with the thesis topic “Dervish monasteries in Sarajevo from the 15th to the 17th century – space organization and architectural features” in 2012, and, in 2014, with the topic “Identity on the margins: the issue of the Other in the novel A Season in Hakkari” and was granted a master’s degree in history of art and comparative literature by the same faculty. She obtained her PhD degree in history of art at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Zagreb with her thesis: “Illuminations of the manuscript of the Timurnama by Hatifi in the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb”.

She has participated in the program of restoration of manuscript material, and the areas of her academic interest and research include: miniature painting, illuminated Arabic, Persian and Turkish manuscripts, the history of the book, and comparative research of the Islamic, Catholic, Post-Byzantine and Jewish hand-written traditions. She has published several articles in local and international periodicals, proceedings and yearbooks, edited a proceedings and catalogue of miniatures, a catalogue of hand-written and archival materials, and written art critiques. She is employed as a senior academic associate art historian for Oriental-Islamic art at the University of Sarajevo Oriental Institute.