More than 1,200 works of art on display in 15 galleries.
By Sujeet Rajan
NEW YORK: Attendance at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s acclaimed New Galleries for the Art of the Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and Later South Asia topped the one-million mark on January 18th.
In the 14 months since their grand reopening on November 1, 2011, the galleries have attracted an average of 2,550 people per day. This number represents approximately 14% of the total attendance in the Metropolitan’s main building in Manhattan during the same time period.
“From May 2003, the Museum worked on the reinstallation of its galleries for the art of the Islamic world, aware of the meaning and power of these collections in our modern world,†said Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
More than 1,200 works from the renowned collection of the Museum’s Department of Islamic Art –one of the most comprehensive gatherings of this material in the world — are on view in the renovated, expanded, and reinstalled suite of 15 galleries, a project that took eight years to complete. The organization of the galleries by geographical area emphasizes the rich diversity of the Islamic world, over a span of 1,300 years, by underscoring the many distinct cultures within the fold.
To celebrate the milestone moment, a catalogue of the collections was presented to the one-millionth visitor in the galleries by Sheila Canby, the Patti Cadby Birch Curator in Charge of the Department of Islamic Art, and Navina Najat Haidar, Curator and Coordinator of the new galleries. The ceremony took place in the Patti Cadby Birch Court, a space that was inspired by Moroccan late medieval design and built by artisans from Fez. Flowers were scattered in a fountain in the court, and musicians played Arabic music.
In sequence, the 15 new galleries of Islamic Art trace the course of Islamic civilization, over a span of 13 centuries, from the Middle East to North Africa, Europe, and Central and South Asia. The new geographic orientation signaled a revised perspective on the important collection, recognizing that the monumentality of Islam did not create a single, monolithic artistic expression, but instead connected a vast geographic expanse through centuries of change and cultural influence.
The collection comprises more than 12,000 works of art drawn from an area that extends from Spain in the west to India in the east. Some 1,200 works of art in all media are on view at any time, representing all major regions and artistic styles, from the seventh century onward
When the galleries opened, Canby had remarked that though the galleries represent a vast territory over a long period of time, “the diverse artworks are nonetheless unified in several distinctive ways. Primary among these is the extensive use of Arabic script, which resulted in exceptional examples of calligraphy—often in conventional media, such as metalwork or architectural elements—and virtuosic achievements in the arts of the book.â€
The museum’s collection includes some magnificent works: the sumptuously ornamented Damascus Room, built in A.H.1119/ 1707 A.D. and one of the finest examples of Syrian Ottoman reception rooms from the house of an important and affluent family; glass, metalwork, and ceramics from Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Iran; some of the finest classical carpets in existence from the 16th and 17th centuries, including the restored, celebrated Emperor’s Carpet, an exceptional classical Persian carpet of the 16th century that was presented to Hapsburg Emperor Leopold I by Peter the Great of Russia; notable early and medieval Qur’ans; pages from the sumptuous copy of the Shahnama, or Book of Kings, created for Shah Tahmasp (1514–76) of Iran, and outstanding royal miniatures from the courts of the Arab World, Ottoman Turkey, Persia, and Mughal India, including paintings from the imperial “Shah Jahan Album,†compiled for the builder of the Taj Mahal; and architectural elements including a 14th-century mihrab, or prayer niche, from Isfahan decorated with glazed ceramic tiles, which would have served in a Muslim house of worship to indicate the direction to Mecca.
The galleries for Mughal South Asia (16th–19th centuries) and Later South Asia (16th-20th centuries) unifies the rich holdings of the Islamic and Asian departments in grand adjoining spaces, presenting for the first time a historically cohesive and visually spectacular overview of the many facets of the art of the region. The two galleries – which have over 20-foot-high ceilings and over 4,000 square feet of space – highlight the artistic and cultural diversity of the Indian subcontinent and its wider connections with the Islamic world, Europe, and beyond.
The first major space displays works of art from the Sultanate, Mughal, and Deccan courts in a chronological and regional sweep from ca. 1450 to the 19th century. Masterpieces include celebrated folios from the Emperor’s Album, jades and jewels of the Mughal period, and fine examples of Deccan court arts. The second gallery, which offers an independent entrance into the larger suite of galleries, presents vibrant examples of Jain, Rajput, Pahari, and “Company†school painting from the 16th to the 19th century, as well as textiles and decorative arts, showcasing the artistic variety of the Indian courts.