IRCICA — Islamic History, Art & Culture
OIC agencies & committees · Researching and preserving Muslim heritage
IRCICA is the OIC's subsidiary devoted to researching, documenting and preserving the history, art and architectural heritage of the Muslim world.
At a glance
| Full name | Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1979 |
| Headquarters | Istanbul, Turkey |
| Role | OIC heritage & research subsidiary |
Founded in 1979 and housed in a wing of the former Ottoman Yıldız Palace in Istanbul, the Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture gathers and publishes scholarship on the civilisation of the Islamic world — its history, calligraphy, architecture, science and material culture. It maintains specialised libraries and archives and has built major bibliographic and image collections.
The centre organises congresses and awards, supports the documentation of endangered monuments and manuscripts, and has produced reference works on Islamic art, Ottoman history and the histories of individual regions and communities. Its location in Istanbul, long a capital of the Muslim world, places it close to one of the great concentrations of Islamic architectural heritage.
IRCICA complements the broader educational and cultural mandate of ICESCO, focusing more narrowly on scholarship and the preservation of the past.
Related in Chronicle
Curated reference on Islamic belief and thought. On matters where traditions differ, positions are attributed rather than adjudicated; verify points of doctrine with qualified scholars.