North America’s first Islamic art museum to open in Toronto

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North America’s first Islamic art museum to open in Toronto

View of the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, exterior. — Reuters pic

TORONTO, Sept 13 — A shiny new Islamic art museum and cultural centre will open in Toronto next week, becoming the first of its kind in North America.

Bankrolled by Prince Karim Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of Ismaili Muslims, the facility will feature more than 1,000 artifacts — including rare scriptures of the Quran from the 7th and 8th centuries.

There are fine collections of Islamic art in museums throughout Canada and the United States, but this will be the first devoted entirely to such works when it welcomes visitors as of September 18.

The Can$300 million (RM876 million) Aga Khan Museum and adjacent Ismaili Center are sprawled over 17 acres, hoping to cater to Muslims and others interested in Islam’s rich history.

The goal is to attract up to 250,000 visitors annually.

“We hope that this museum will contribute to a better understanding of the people of Islam in all their religious, ethnic linguistic and social diversity,” the Aga Khan said in a statement.

Most of the artefacts come from the prince’s family’s trove, showcasing the achievements of Muslim civilizations from Spain to China, said museum director Henry Kim.

At a preview on Wednesday, a piece of carved marble from 10th century Spain was among the works that sparked particular interest.

The chiselled building that houses the museum measures a massive 10,500 square meters and boasts a 350-seat auditorium with carved wood panels.

Six artists from Pakistan who specialise in miniature art, music and performing arts will be present at the opening.

Going forward, the museum plans to host travelling exhibitions, concerts, as well as international conferences and seminars.

“Canada is a model and global hub of diversity, ethnicity and inter-mingling cultures so Toronto became the natural choice for us to set up a modern cultural centre showcasing Muslim civilizations,” said Luis Monreal, head of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture.

The Aga Khan Museum is part of the Aga Khan Development Network, which has its footprint in several countries. — Afp-Relaxnews

See more at: North America’s first Islamic art museum to open in Toronto | Travel | The Malay Mail Online

 

[Dubious]

 

[liontk]

uis Monreal is a ball of energy who speaks quickly and wields a large vocabulary. Born in Spain to a Catalan mother and a Basque father, he is fluent in French, Spanish, English, German, and (he smiles) “some Arabic.”

Peter J. Thompson/National PostA woman walks past art work made by Pakistan artist Aisha Khalid at the soon to be opened Aga Khan Museum.
The man who runs the Aga Khan Trust for Culture in Geneva is in Toronto, preparing for the opening of the new Aga Khan Museum.

Lighting technicians, carpenters, curators and cleaners bustle through the galleries, scrambling to get everything finished for a press preview Wednesday. The facility, which opens next week, is the first museum of Islamic art in North America.

Mr. Monreal threads his way to a glass box inside which glows a gold disc the size of a tea saucer.

“Now a major piece in the museum is a very small one,” he said. “This is an astrolabe, made in Spain in the 14th century — probably made in Toledo, Spain, not Toledo, Ohio! The inscription is in Arabic, Hebrew and Latin.”

An astrolabe, he explains, is an astronomical tool, a medieval piece of high technology used for navigation. Not far away sprawls a mamluk, a traditional square fountain of mosaic marble in geometric patterns, made in the 15th century for a home in Cairo.

Then there’s a 12th-century Afghan candlestick “for a very big candle.” Another case displays white ceramic pots with blue glaze. “T

Peter J. Thompson/National PostA Koran on display at the soon to be opened Aga Khan Museum.
The building’s architect, Fumihiko Maki of Japan, has used geometric patterns inspired by the great mosques of classical Islam, repeating them in the inlaid floor of the courtyard, etched glass, and wood screens in the auditorium.

All this is an intellectual investment by the Swiss-based Aga Khan Development Network, a sprawling non-profit empire, employing 80,000 people in 30 countries, headed by one of the world’s lesser-known royals, Prince Karim Aga Khan, 77. Lesser-known but well-to-do, the 49th Aga Khan lives on an estate called Aiglemont, north of Paris, and owns hundreds of racehorses. He also has private investments; in 2010 Forbes magazine put his personal fortune at US$800-million. He is not a household name in Canada — yet.

Claiming direct descent from the Prophet Muhammad, the Aga Khan is the spiritual leader of an estimated 15 million Ismaili Muslims, thousands of whom came to Canada to escape persecution in East Africa in the 1970s. Today about 100,000 of them call Canada home.

Lately, the Aga Khan has spent time and money in this country. He addressed Parliament in February; recently the government of Canada gave his network $30-million and a 99-year lease on the former Canadian war museum in Ottawa to establish a Global Centre for Pluralism, a joint venture between the Aga Khan’s network and the government. In May, he spoke at the Every Woman Every Child conference in Toronto.

Peter J. Thompson/National PostThe Aga Khan Museum's auditorium stairs
About a decade ago, his network bought seven hectares of land north of downtown Toronto from the Bata family. It angered some when it knocked down the Bata Shoe headquarters, a John P. Parkin building that some compared to the Acropolis in Athens.

“It resembled the Acropolis in the sense that it was on a hill,” Mr. Monreal said. “We had a very fruitful dialogue with the architectural gotha of Toronto.” (He uses gotha, a German word, to mean elite or intelligentsia.)

“We said, ‘If you accept that this building goes, we will provide two buildings that will add to the architecture of Toronto.’ “

The Aga Khan’s network kept its promise. The museum shares the site with the Ismaili

Centre Toronto, designed by the Indian architect Charles Correa, which includes ajamatkhama, or Ismaili prayer hall. Between the two buildings spreads a park with five huge reflecting pools, above a parking garage for 600 cars. The investment in the site totals $300-million.

On Friday the Aga Khan visits Toronto to open the museum. It is a welcome addition to the cultural landscape.

National Post

• Email: pkuitenbrouwer@nationalpost.com | Twitter:

Peter J. Thompson/National PostA women preapres an exhibit at the Aga Khan Museum.

Peter J. Thompson/National PostA display at the soon to be opened Aga Khan Museum.
hese are produced in Syria in the 14th century,” said Mr. Monreal.

In a grand hall, workers with a mobile crane have just hung a tapestry pierced in an intricate pattern with 1.2-million pins. The museum commissioned the piece from Aisha Khalid, an artist based in Lahore, Pakistan, who is here supervising the installation.

Syria. Egypt. Afghanistan. Pakistan. These place-names drip with blood in 2014, conjuring images of unrest, protest, bombings and civil war. The Aga Khan Museum, which opens Sept. 18, offers a welcome antidote to these clichés through art that celebrates the rich cultural history of the Islamic world.

Link: Toronto set to unveil first museum of Islamic culture in North America | National Post
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Personal Opinion: Credits to the spiritual leader monsieur Aga khan for raising further awareness about islam and its positive cultural impact to the world. This museum will be a great initiative that hopefully expands to other things and as they say action speak louder than words . I also want to say that museum further shows the strength of the Canadien- Pakistani diaspora that is scrutinized alot by the media and hopefully this changes peoples perception.

Also for the sake of brevity, I did not post the francais version of the article as most of you are anglophones here.

 

[liontk]

 

[Dubious]

thread merge request: North America’s first Islamic art museum to open in Toronto - See more at: http://www.themalaymailon

@WebMaster @Horus @Manticore @Jungibaaz @Chak Bamu @Fulcrum15 @Emmie @Oscar @Adios Amigo @T-Faz @blain2

 

[Dubious]

thread merge request: Breaking news: Toronto set to unveil first museum of Islamic culture in North America

@WebMaster @Horus @Manticore @Jungibaaz @Chak Bamu @Fulcrum15 @Emmie @Oscar @Adios Amigo @T-Faz @blain2

 

[liontk]

Mawlana Hazar Imam and Prime Minister Stephen Harper shake hands after unveiling the plaque commemorating the Foundation of the Ismaili Centre, Toronto, the Aga Khan Museum and their Park. ZAHUR RAMJI

Mawlana Hazar Imam speaks with members of the Canadian Ismaili Muslim Youth Choir, who had performed earlier in the afternoon. ZAHUR RAMJI

Ismaili Council for Canada Vice-President Malik Talib with Princess Khaliya, pointing out details of interest on the architectural model of the Wynford Drive projects. MOEZ VISRAM

This prayer amulet is a rare example of an early Arabic printing technique known as tarsh. The paper displays eighteen lines of kufic text on the page shown here and further lines on the reverse, which may have been offset from the recto when the paper was folded inside its lead case, also a very rare survival. The text contains excerpts from different suras or chapters of the Qur’an, including al-An'am (The Cattle), Al-i 'Imran (The Family of Imran), al-Hijr (The Rocky Tract), and al-Baqara (The Cow).

The style of the kufic characters in the present example would indicate a Fatimid origin and no later, since this script was no longer used for manuscripts after the Fatimid period. The printing technique probably involved metal plates or woodblocks. The history of early printed amulets has yet to be written. What is known about them is based on a small group of extant printed amulets and literary sources. Bulliett cites poetry verses from tenth- and fourteenth-century authors referring to printed amulets from wooden blocks and cast tin plates (Bulliet 1987).

Link: Amulet and case | Aga Khan Museum

 

[liontk]

Framed within elaborately painted and illuminated borders and mounted on an album page filled with vegetal design in gold, these portraits of two of the greatest Mughal emperors illustrate the contrast in the artistic conventions under each of their reigns. The painted bust of Jahangir (r. 1605-27 CE), the fourth ruler of the dynasty and the son of Akbar (r. 1556-1605 CE), represents the miniature portraits that became fashionable for important figures to wear during this emperor’s reign. The trend began after 1615 CE, when miniature portraits were introduced to India from England by Sir Thomas Roe (Welch and Welch 1982, p. 215; Canby 1998, p. 143). The artistic style under Jahangir is well represented by the artist Balchand, known for his ability to capture the more emotional and “human” qualities of subjects in his paintings (Welch and Welch 1982, p. 215). Balchand identifies himself through a Persian inscription on Jahangir’s left shoulder: “rasm-i [the drawing of] Balchand.”

Link: Portraits of Jahangir and Shah Jahan | Aga Khan Museum

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

thread merge request: Breaking news: Toronto set to unveil first museum of Islamic culture in North America

It's not the first "Culture" it's the first "Art".

There's already Islamic Culture Museums.
For instance "The International Museum of Muslim Cultures" International Museum of Muslim Cultures is in the USA.

 

[Dubious]

It's not the first "Culture" it's the first "Art".

There's already Islamic Culture Museums.
For instance "The International Museum of Muslim Cultures" International Museum of Muslim Cultures is in the USA.

I only asked for the thread to be merged together

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

I only asked for the thread to be merged together

I just didn't want people to get the impression Muslims are being overlooked over here.

 

[That Guy]

This is more of a Ismaili Shia historical museum, rather than a museum of complete Islamic history.

 

[liontk]

This is more of a Ismaili Shia historical museum, rather than a museum of complete Islamic history.

Please go through the catalog of the museum and look through the entire collection since I doubt historical objects have any religious affliation. We did not name it a shiite center but rather a islamic cultural museum encompassing art from the fatimid caliphate down to the moghal empire. I mean the canadien muslim community has to be stand united instead of seceterian divisions that I see you are trying to create so please stop.

 

[JUBA]

good to see christian nations like canada respecting Islamic culture sadly christians and other nonmuslims cultural musem are considerd taboo in islamic world...

Canada is not a "Christian" nation.

 

[That Guy]

Please go through the catalog of the museum and look through the entire collection since I doubt historical objects have any religious affliation. We did not name it a shiite center but rather a islamic cultural museum encompassing art from the fatimid caliphate down to the moghal empire. I mean the canadien muslim community has to be stand united instead of seceterian divisions that I see you are trying to create so please stop.

I'm doing no such thing. I'm simply stating a view based on my own personal observations, that the museum seems to be mainly showing Ismaili Shia history, even if some of it's artifacts don't belong to the sect.

Also, "we"? Are you involved in this project?

good to see christian nations like canada respecting Islamic culture sadly christians and other nonmuslims cultural musem are considerd taboo in islamic world...

Canada a Christian nation? Hahaha. That's actually pretty fully.

If anyone needed evidence that you're a troll, this comment of yours proves it.