i think al—andalus is very dear to the arab world as a glorious period of islam, to this heritage thatof mourning for these past days that have seen so many advancements, so there's a sense of nostalgia with al—andalus. there was something just so delightful about that — that perky brass hind with its coiffed mane and those flaring nostrils. looking at it, i was transported to the golden age of al—andalus on the western edge of the islamic world, where you have to remember it would have been animated within a palace courtyard by the sight and sound of water gushing — and while it was made using techniques from the ancient mediterranean world, that coat is also covered with tight geometric designs that also crop up far away — in syria, for example — and that cultural cross—pollination is what i'm hoping to discover even more about. i'm at the museum of islamic art in doha. the building sits in its own immaculate park — the setting, surprisingly, perhaps, for a monumental sculpture by one of the greats of western contemporary art. pretty much any western textbook about islamic art will t