ISIS’s distinction from other fundamentalist groups did not lie in its interpretation of divine law or its willingness to use violence, as groups like al-Qaeda and the Taliban also executed brutal punishments. Instead, ISIS’s defining feature was its performative understanding of violence, elevating punishment into a spectacle of retribution. Unlike the Taliban, which carried out punishments as acts of divine justice without concern for media or public perception, ISIS …

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In The Tempest, Shakespeare describes a society where people refuse to give a penny to a crippled beggar but eagerly pay ten pennies to see a dead Native American. With the invention of photography, this voyeuristic impulse transformed into the practice of capturing “group photos with the victim.” In the Qajar visual culture, such images were common, offering numerous examples of commemorative photographs featuring the condemned.   The Spectacle of …

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Public punishment has always been more than a legal practice. It is a form of display. A way to show the rules and the consequences of breaking them. A ritual meant not just to correct the individual but to reaffirm the power of the collective. Throughout history the body of the criminal has served as a billboard raised to communicate fear order and control. Execution in public was not simply …

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    “Whether rulers or the ruled, when they feel power slipping away, they are tempted to replace it with violence. Resisting this temptation has always been difficult for them.” —Hannah Arendt At first glance, the guillotine and death by cannon may seem unrelated, apart from their shared function as instruments of execution. Yet, from a historical and comparative perspective, they both serve as symbols of power’s violent assertion. The …

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In modernity, human power and agency became mythologized, replacing the premodern view in which humans were subordinate to divine wisdom and sought refuge in God against unknown forces. Modern humans, no longer willing to endure passively, placed themselves at the center of existence, assuming the mission of salvation through their own strength. This shift gave rise to humanism, yet the question remains: can human forces alone overcome the alien and …

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The Intersection of the Body, Punishment, and Architecture The human body has long been the subject of social control, shaped by power structures, cultural values, and disciplinary mechanisms. Michel Foucault, in Discipline and Punish, examines how power is exercised over individuals through exacting corporeal control and discipline. He argues that in disciplinary societies, power structures enforce order through spatial mechanisms, turning “the body” into a “docile body”. Foucault identifies institutions …

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    The word “museum” conjures a specific image: a structured space with defined purposes—research, collection, preservation, interpretation, and display of tangible and intangible heritage. Yet, does a museum necessarily have to be a place? Language, too, can function as a museum. A book, as an archive of words, becomes part of a library, an idea Borges explores in The Library of Babel, imagining an infinite collection containing all past and …

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The Human Desire to Collect and Preserve the Extraordinary The urge to collect rare, beautiful, or historically significant objects is deeply rooted in human nature. From ancient talismanic stones to ornate royal artifacts, sacred or exceptional objects have long held cultural and symbolic importance. Since the opening of the Ashmolean Museum in 1683, the role of museums has evolved dramatically. No longer mere cabinets of curiosity, museums have become powerful …

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