Aga Khan Museum

The Aga Khan Museum (AKM) is dedicated to the preservation of Muslim arts and culture. It is to be situated in Toronto, Canada and is expected to open in 2010. The museum is an initiative of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network. It will house collections of Islamic art and heritage, including artefacts from the private collections of His Highness the Aga Khan, the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London, and Prince and Princess Sadruddin Aga Khan.

Establishment and architecture

The establishment of the Aga Khan Museum was announced on October 8, 2002 by the Aga Khan Development Network [http://www.akdn.org/ (AKDN)] . [cite press release |url=http://www.akdn.org/news/toronto_101002.html |title=Aga Khan to Establish Major Academic and Cultural Center and Museum in Canada |publisher=Aga Khan Development Network |date=2002-10-08 |accessdate=2006-11-29] It will be located on Wynford Drive, off the Don Valley Parkway in Toronto, and is expected to open in 2010.cite press release |url=http://www.akdn.org/news/2007march30_Parma.html |title=Sacred Art and Music of the Muslim World in Parma, Italy |date=2007-03-30 |publisher=Aga Khan Development Network |accessdate=2007-04-08]

Architecturally, the museum is expected to be of international caliber, a design of Pritzker Prize winner Fumihiko Maki. The 10,000 square-metre structure will be set within formal gardens and surrounded by a large park designed by landscape architect Vladimir Djurovic.cite book | title = Spirit & Life: Masterpieces of Islamic Art from the Aga Khan Museum Collection | publisher = The Aga Khan Trust for Culture | date = 2007 | location = Switzerland | isbn = 9782940212022] The extensive site with be shared with a new Ismaili Centre designed by the famous Indian architect Charles Correa.cite article |url=http://archrecord.construction.com/news/daily/archives/081006AghaKhan.asp |title=Correa, Maki Tapped to Design Aga Khan Center |date=2008-10-06 |publisher=Architectural Record, The McGraw-Hill Companies |accessdate=2008-10-09]

Collection

The museum will be dedicated to the acquisition, preservation, display and interpretation of artefacts relating to the intellectual, cultural, artistic and religious traditions of Muslim communities, past and present. Artefacts will include ceramics, metalwork, and paintings covering all periods of Islamic history. Manuscripts in the collection will include the earliest known copy of Avicenna’s Qanun fi’l-Tibb (The Canon of Medicine) dated 1052. A music programme is planned, which will work to expand knowledge of the traditional music of Asia and the Islamic world, as well as their contemporary expression.

The museum will become a repository of historical materials related to the Ismaili community and house research programmes related to each one of the aspects of its institutional mission. It will also provide a space for permanent exchanges between the Islamic and the Western worlds on educational, cultural and socioeconomic issues.

European tour

Elements of the Aga Khan Museum's permanent collection are currently on tour in Europe, and have been exhibited at the Palazzo della Pilotta in Parma, [cite web | url=http://www.splendoriacorte.org/ | title = Splendori a Corte] the Ismaili Centre in London,cite news | url=http://www.mtarch.com/mtaakmutheglobe070711.html | last = Renzetti | first = Elizabeth | title = A stunning debut for Toronto-bound Treasures of Islam | publisher = The Globe and Mail | date = 2007-07-11 | accessdate = 2007-12-02 ] and at the Louvre in Paris. [cite web | url = http://mini-site.louvre.fr/arts-islam/agakhan/index-en.htm | title = Masterpieces of Islamic Art from the Aga Khan Museum | publisher = Le Louvre | accessdate = 2007-12-02] A showing in Lisbon is scheduled to open in March 2008 at the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum. [cite web | url=http://www.museu.gulbenkian.pt/exposicoes.asp?lang=en#66 | title = The Path of Princes: Masterpieces from the Aga Khan Museum Collection | publisher = Museu Calouste Gulbenkian | accessdate = 2008-03-12] The exhibits have received wide international acclaim. [cite news | title = Islamic treasures go on show in Italy | publisher = Middle East Online | date = 2007-03-24 | url = http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=20120 | accessdate = 2007-12-02 ] Organized in two parts: "The Word of God" consisting of sacred texts and related objects and "The Power of the Sovereign" reflecting Muslim courts and their figures, the exhibit conveys both "din" and "duniya" — the sacred and the profane — which are inextricably linked in Muslim cultures.

The exhibit includes several superb examples of Qur'an manuscripts that demonstrate the variety of script, media and decorative styles that evolved in the Muslim world. Among them, an 8th century North African folio demonstrates the earliest style of kufic script written on parchment. A page from the well known "Blue Qur'an" provides an example of gold kufic script on indigo-dyed parchment. The Blue Qur'an is considered one of the most extraordinary Qur'an manuscripts ever created; its origins are 9th-10th century North African, and it was likely created for the Fatimid imam-caliphs ruling from Qayrawan.

References

ee also

*Aga Khan Trust for Culture
*Aga Khan Development Network

External links

*cite web |title=AKTC Museum Projects |url=http://www.akdn.org/agency/aktc_museum.html |accessdate=2006-11-29
*cite web |title=Aga Khan Trust for Culture |url=http://www.akdn.org/agency/aktc.html |accessdate=2006-11-29
*cite web |title=Aga Khan Development Network |url=http://www.akdn.org/ |accessdate=2006-11-29
*cite web |title=TheIsmaili: Portuguese Jamat explores the Path of Princes |url=http://www.theismaili.org/cms/513/Portuguese-Jamat-explores-the-emPath-of-Princesem |accessdate=2008-09-07