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Aga Khan Museum: The first Western museum devoted to Islamic art

(October 12, 2020) The Aga Khan Museum is the first Western museum devoted to Islamic art. Traditionally, museums in the West have acted as storehouses and shrines to European Christian values, with other cultures and faiths represented in specialist galleries, if at all. And yet, most Westerners are not aware that European culture in the last millennium would not have been possible without the cultural juggernaut emanating from the Islamic world. At the Aga Khan Museum, you’ll find Chrysalis and Sanctuary, two current exhibits on display until October 25. On November 7th, a new exhibition, Remastered, arrives. This remarkably innovative exhibit uses 3-D hologram technology, animation, and digital restoration to display the lush world of Islamic manuscript painting in a way that has never before been possible, with works chosen to reflect themes of Courage, Love, and Exemplary Living. Find out more at https://agakhanmuseum.org/exhibitions/remastered.

All photos courtesy of the Aga Khan Museum.

Aga Khan Museum 1 refugee women living in Greece,
Inside the exhibition. Chrysalis features Stefatou’s portraits of 11 refugee women living in Greece, originally from Syria, Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
(Photo credit Toni Hafkenscheid)



The museum at sunrise.
(Photo credit Janet Kimber)
Aga Khan Museum Sanctuary
Sanctuary, a current exhibition, on until October 25
(Photo credit Toni Hafkenscheid)
 
Aga Khan Museum
From the museum’s permanent collection. The exhibit uses light and shadow masterfully to foreground the rich abstract patterning characteristic of Islamic art.
(Photo credit Janet Kimber)

rugs woven by 36 artists from around the world photographed by Toni Hakfenscheid,
The exhibit brought together rugs woven by 36 artists from around the world, all exploring the tactile, associative qualities of the concept of ‘sanctuary’
(Photo credit Toni Hakfenscheid)
rugs woven by 36 artists from around the world photographed by Toni Hakfenscheid,
The exhibit brought together rugs woven by 36 artists from around the world, all exploring the tactile, associative qualities of the concept of ‘sanctuary’
(Photo credit Toni Hakfenscheid)
The museum in bloom. In 2017, the museum appeared in a Star Trek: Discovery episode as a location on the planet Vulcan. (Photo credit Janet Kimber)

Feature Photo

Chrysalis, an exhibition by Greek photographer Olga Stefatou
Chrysalis, an exhibition featuring portraits of refugee women living in Greece, by Greek photographer Olga Stefatou. Her practice “investigates the idea of freedom and its connections to geopolitics, heritage, and social structures”.
(Photo credit Olga Stefatou)

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