CURRICULUM VITAE - University of St Andrews

CURRICULUM VITAE
Privatdozent Dr. habil. Jürgen Wasim FREMBGEN
Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde München
[Museum of Ethnology, Munich]
Maximilianstrasse 42
80538 Munich
Germany
Phone: 0049 (0) 89/2101 36 141
Fax: 0049 (0) 89/2101 36 247
e-mail: JSFrembgen@t-online.de
juergen.frembgen@extern.lrz-muenchen.de
Current Positions
- Senior Curator – Oriental Department / Museum of Ethnology, Munich
- Privatdozent in Islamic Studies – Institute of Near and Middle Eastern Studies /
Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich
- Member of International Faculty, National College of Arts, Lahore
Personal Information and Education
- Birth: April 22, 1955, Bonn/Germany
- 1962-1966 Primary School in Oberdollendorf (Rhein-Sieg-Kreis)
- 1966-1974 Private ‘Ernst-Kalkuhl-Gymnasium’ in Bonn-Oberkassel
- 1974-1976 Soldier in the German Army
- since 1980 married to Sabine Frembgen, with three sons
Universities
- 1976-1984 University of Bonn (Anthropology, Comparative Religion,
Oriental Art History)
- 1983-1984 University of Heidelberg / South Asia Institute (Anthropology)
- 1981 M.A. in Anthropology – University of Bonn
(Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Karl Jettmar)
- 1985 Dr. phil. in Anthropology – University of Heidelberg
(Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Karl Jettmar)
- 2003 Habilitation in Islamic Studies – University of Erlangen
(Prof. Dr. Hartmut Bobzin)
- 2007 Change of Habilitation in Islamic Studies – University of

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Munich
Foreign Languages
English, French, Persian, Punjabi, Urdu, Hindi
Academic Work Experience
Employment and Positions
1978-1980 Assistant-Librarian Anthropos-Institute, Sankt Augustin
1983-1985 Tourist Guide (Pakistan)
1985 Collaborator at the Museum für Völkerkunde, Frankfurt a.M.
1986 Head of the Museum ‘Haus Völker und Kulturen’ (Sankt Augustin) as a
Deputy
1986-1987 Assistant at the Hamburgisches Museum für Völkerkunde
1987 to date Senior Curator – Oriental Department/Museum of Ethnology, Munich
Current Research Projects
- Member of the „Mission Interdisciplinaire Française du Sindh“
Interdisciplinary research project on the architecture, history, material culture and
devotionalism in Sehwan Sharif (Sindh/Pakistan) in collaboration with scholars from
France/CNRS and Pakistan
Functions:
1. Head of program 1 „History, Arts and Techniques“
2. Conducting a project within program 3 „Devotional Practices“:
Multiple Expressions of Devotion at a Centre of Pilgrimage.
The Shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan Sharif (Sindh/Pakistan)
- The Aura of the Alif. The Art of Writing in Islam
Preparing a major international exhibition for the Museum of Ethnology, Munich in
2010 and editing a catalogue on calligraphy and writing in the Muslim world from
early Islam to the contemporary period (in addition to elite manifestations also dealing
with folk art, popular art, subaltern art and everyday aesthetics)
- Popular Visual Cultures in South Asia
Convening a panel on popular visual cultures in South Asia at the forthcoming “20 th
European Conference on Modern South Asian Studies” (ECMSAS) at the University
of Manchester (8-11 July 2008)

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Publications
Books
2008 Journey to God. Sufis and Dervishes in Islam. Karachi (Oxford University Press).
[revised and extended English edition of the German edition published in 2000]
2006 The Friends of God – Sufi Saints in Islam. Popular Poster Art from Pakistan. Karachi
(Oxford University Press).
Catalogues
2007 Art and Bread. Iranian Sofreh – Kunst und Brot. Iranische Sofreh. Etemad Collection.
Tehran (Soor Publ.).
2001 Accessoires. Islamische Kleinkunst aus Süd-, West- und Zentralasien. Munich
(Museum of Ethnology).
Articles in peer reviewed journals
2008 Marginality, Sexuality and the Body. Professional Masseurs in Urban Muslim Punjab.
In: The Asia-Pacific Journal of Anthropology 9/1: 1-28.
2006 Honour, Shame, and Bodily Mutilation. Cutting off the Nose among Tribal Societies
in Pakistan. In: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 16/3: 243-260.
Contributions to books, catalogues and journals
2008 Marriage to the Koran. Notes on a Local Custom in Sindh and Punjab. In: O. Jastrow
& Sh. Talay & H. Hafenrichter (eds.), Studien zur Semitistik und Arabistik. Festschrift
für Hartmut Bobzin zum 60. Geburtstag; p. 93-98. Wiesbaden (Harrassowitz).
2008 Kunstwelten der Muslime. In: C. Müller (ed.), Weiter als der Horizont – Kunst der
Welt; p. 257-284. München (Hirmer).
2007 Sufi Poster Art. In: Journal of the History of Sufism 5: 329-335.
2007 Fokus Pakistan im Münchner Völkerkundemuseum. In: S. Chaudhry et al. (eds.), 60
Jahre Pakistan. Aufbruch, Errungenschaften und Herausforderungen; p. 60-67. Bonn
– Berlin (Deutsch-Pakistanisches Forum).
2007 Reinheit, Segen und Wohlgeruch. Zur Ethnographie von Rosenwasser und
Rosenöl im muslimischen Orient. In: Münchner Beiträge zur Völkerkunde 11: 81-110.
2007 Orientalische Raritäten in Bayern. Ein Streiflicht auf die Sammlung König Ludwig I.
In: C. Müller & W. Stein (eds.), Exotische Welten. Aus den völkerkundlichen
Sammlungen der Wittelsbacher 1806-1848; p. 105-116. Dettelbach 2007 (Knauf-
Museum Iphofen & Staatl. Museum für Völkerkunde München).
Shorter contributions
(comments, editorials, encyclopaedia entries, descriptions of objects, review articles)

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2006 Ein Derwisch, der Fußbälle näht. Arif Sain aus Pakistan – A Dervish who sews
Footballs. Arif Sain of Pakistan. In: K. Guggeis (ed.), Fussball. Ein Spiel – Viele
Welten. Football – One Game – Many Worlds; p. 32-33. Munich (Arnoldsche).
2004 Die Orient-Abteilung des Staatlichen Museums für Völkerkunde in München. In: J.
Gierlichs & A. Hagedorn (eds.), Islamische Kunst in Deutschland; p. 169-170. Mainz
(Philipp von Zabern).
The Oriental Department of the Museum of Ethnology in Munich. In: J. Gierlichs &
A. Hagedorn (eds.), Islamic Art in Germany; p. 169-170. Mainz (Philipp von Zabern).
Reviews
2008 Abdullah Khan ‘Azar’: My Heartrendingly Tragic Story. Oslo 2006. In:
Orientalistische Literaturzeitung 103/1: 84-85.
2007 Marsden, Magnus: Living Islam. Muslim Religious Experience in Pakistan’s North-
West Frontier. Cambridge 2005. In: Anthropos 102: 279-280.