creative forces

Blog # 45…May 2015

Toronto has a  new landmark…the Aga Khan Museum is significant for the majesty of its architecture, as well as the quality of the exhibits, lectures and performances.  Set on a large site in the north east of the City (a bus from the Eglinton subway stops right at the front door) with an adjacent mosque, the museum brings a Muslim presence to Toronto in an open accessible way that manages to engage the public subtly and effectively in learning about Islam. I hope it captures many hearts and minds as it did mine.

The art comes from all over the eastern world.
The first major show -  unfortunately over now -  The Lost Dhow,
contained relics from an Arab sailing ship that transported goods along the Maritme Silk Route. The ship foundered in the Indian Ocean sometime in the 9^thcentury, spilling its cargo of silver and bronze articles, vessels once filled with spices, and thousands of ceramic bowls and ewers onto the ocean floor where it rested until discovered by a diver in 1998.  The ceramics are incredibly well preserved, quite astonishing that they sat at the bottom of the sea for 1400 years; there are a few cardamom seeds that survived too. The show is back at home in Singapore now...if you happen to be there.

Arriving in June is A Thirst for Riches, a show of carpets from the east in paintings from the west... coming from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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Iran, 16th century court poets

Turkey, Isnik tile

The permanent collection occupies the main floor gallery and covers a broad geography from Spain to Southeast Asia.  It contains some of the most important artistic and scientific works of Muslim civilizations.



In the permanent gallery, the rise of Islam around the world is described, extending from the birth of the prophet Mohamed in 570 CE to the fall of the Ottoman Empire after WW1   It doesn’t include contemporary centres like Bradford, Paris or Calgary but what it does do is erase our instinctive images of beheadings and fundamentalist mullahs when we hear hear the words Muslim or Islam and replaces them with softer visions of textures, colours and design from centuries of artists and artisans throughout the Muslim world.  The staff do an immensely good job of welcoming inquiry and encouraging appreciation of the museum in particular and Islam in general. .The Aga Khan Museum  is an exercise in public relations as well as a beautiful collection of art of the Muslim world and will delight your senses as well as your soul.