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Aga Khan Museum
Aga Khan Museum
The
Aga Khan Museum, due to open in 2011 in Toronto, will be dedicated
to the acquisition, preservation and display of artefacts, from
various periods and geographies, relating to the intellectual,
cultural, artistic and religious heritage of Islamic communities.
The establishment of the Aga
Khan Museum was announced on 8 October 2002 by the Aga Khan Development
Network. It will be located on Wynford Drive, off the Don Valley
Parkway in Toronto.
The Museum is an initiative
of His Highness the Aga Khan (Spiritual Leader) of the Shia Imami
Ismaili Muslims. He intends the Museum to be a centre of education
and learning dedicated to the presentation of Muslim arts and
culture in all their historic, cultural and geographical diversity.
The Aga Khan Museum will offer unique insights and new perspectives
into Muslim civilizations.
Surrounded by a large landscaped
park, the Museum will be housed in a 10,000 square metre building
designed by the Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki.
The Museum's collection contains
some of the world's most important masterpieces of Islamic art,
including the famous collection of miniatures and manuscripts
created by the late Prince Sadruddin and his wife Princess Catherine,
and objects in stone, wood, ivory and glass, metalwork, ceramics,
rare works on paper and parchment. Covering over 1,000 years
of history, they create an overview of the artistic accomplishments
of Muslim civilisations from the Iberian Peninsula to China.
Specific educational programmes on Muslim history, arts and culture
will make the Museum a unique space in North America. It will
be an institution dedicated to disseminating knowledge of Islamic
civilisations through outreach to the widest public school children,
students, adults and families, as well as researchers, including
educational resources via the internet. The building will house
a large auditorium with lecture, film and concert programmes,
as well as a library offering direct access to specialized documentation
and information from virtual sources.
The Museum's temporary exhibitions,
which will be developed in partnership with key international
partners, will spotlight the diversity of Islamic arts and cultures.
Beyond the traditional presentation
of major periods of Muslim history, original approaches will
include, for example, the relationships between Islam and other
cultures and the evolution of arts, sciences, religion, literature
or music in a Muslim context. In the period leading to its official
opening, selections from the Aga Khan Museum's collections are
being shown in different European locations in France, Spain,
Germany, Russia, Portugal and Italy. They allow the public to
have a glimpse of what the Museum will contain, and at the same
time bring public attention to the creation of a new institution
of international standing.
The Museum is part of a wide
range of activities aimed at the preservation and promotion of
the material and spiritual heritage of Muslim societies. As the
cultural agency of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), the
Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) leverages cultural heritage
as a means of supporting and catalyzing development. Its programmes
include the Aga Khan Historic Cities Programme, which works to
revitalise historic cities in the Muslim world, both culturally
and socioeconomically. Over the last decade, it has rehabilitated
historic areas in Cairo, Kabul, Herat, Aleppo, Delhi, Zanzibar,
Mostar, the Northern Areas of Pakistan, Timbuktu and Mopti.
AKTC also supports the Muslim
arts and architecture departments of Harvard University and the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), as well as ArchNet.org,
a major online resource on Islamic architecture.
His Highness the Aga Khan,
Imam (Spiritual Leader) of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims, celebrates
his Golden Jubilee year from 11 July 2007 to 11 July 2008. Fifty
years ago, at the age of 20, the Aga Khan succeeded his grandfather,
Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan, as the 49th hereditary Imam
of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims. The Aga Khan is a direct descendant
of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) through his cousin
and son-in-law, Ali, the first Imam, and his wife Fatima, the
Prophet's daughter.
The Aga Khan provides spiritual
guidance to a community of 15 million living in 25 countries,
mainly in West and Central Asia, Africa and the Middle East as
well as in North America and Western Europe.
As Spiritual Leader of the
Ismailis, the Aga Khan has emphasised the view of Islam as a
thinking, spiritual faith, one that teaches compassion and tolerance
and that upholds the dignity of man, Allah's noblest creation.
References:
http://www.akdn.org/press_release.asp?ID=242
http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:5i_QuHOFl_8J:
http://www.akdn.org/museums+Aga%20Khan%
20Museum%20Toronto
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