DISCOVER
Designed around the concept of light, the Aga Khan Museum is positioned at 45 degrees to solar north to ensure that, over the course of 24 hours, all exterior surfaces receive natural light.
Building Facts Design Architect: Maki and Associates, Tokyo
AGA KHAN MUSEUM “In a world in which some speak of a growing clash of civilisations, we believe the Museum will help address what is not so much a clash of civilisations, as it is a clash of ignorances. The new Museum will have a strong educational vocation: it will be a place for active inquiry, for discussion and research, for lectures and seminars, and for an array of collaborative programs with educational institutions and with other museums.” –His Highness the Aga Khan
Architect of record: Moriyama and Teshima Architects, Toronto Landscape architect: Vladimir Djurovic Landscape Architecture, Lebanon Museography: Studio Adrien Gardère, Paris
Materials Exterior: Brazilian granite and aluminum Interiors: Concrete, steel, aluminum panelling, Italian sandstone, patterned glass, stone mosaic floors, polished black granite, Indonesian teak, polished plaster, cast zinc
Key Figures The site: 6.8 hectares Museum gross floor area: 10,500 square metres Size of galleries: 1,800 square metres Size of collections storage: 620 square metres Seats in auditorium: 350 Height of auditorium roof: 19.8 metres Courtyard: Surrounded by 13-metre-tall double-glass walls etched with mashrabiya patterns
AGA KHAN MUSEUM ABOUT THE MUSEUM
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Ceremonial Opening and Gala Event The Museum was officially opened by His Highness the Aga Khan and The Right Honorable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada on September 12, 2014. In attendance were members of His Highness’s family, senior AKDN representatives, high level officials, international dignitaries, and the Diplomatic community. The inaugural concert was performed by the Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma in the new auditorium. Farzad AttarJafari
OPENING CEREMONIES
Yo-Yo Ma
Wen Zhao
His Highness the Aga Khan and the Prime Minister of Canada
Auditorium, Aga Khan Museum
Musicians from the Silk Road Ensemble
AGA KHAN MUSEUM OPENING CEREMONIES
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COLLECTION The Court of Keyomars Folio 20v from a Shah-Nameh (Book of Kings) produced for Shah Tahmasp I Painting by Soltan Mohammad Tabriz, Iran, ca. 1522 Opaque watercolour, ink, gold, and silver on paper 47 x 32 cm AKM165 Described in the 16th century as a masterpiece and acknowledged to this day as one of the most important works of Iranian painting, The Court of Keyomars is from one of the greatest manuscripts of all time, the ShahNameh (Book of Kings), which was produced for the Safavid ruler of Iran, Shah Tahmasp I. The manuscript took 20 years or more to complete. Almost all the major Iranian artists from the first half of the 16th century were involved in this monumental project. Its 258 illustrations are considered the zenith of the art of Iranian painting. Surrounded by his son and grandson, the king addresses the court below him. The jewel-like intensity of the painting’s colours and their variety and balance demonstrate the painter Soltan Mohammad’s exceptional mastery. The impeccable details and minute scale suggest the use of fine brushes, which at times were made of squirrel hairs. It took Soltan Mohammad three years to paint this masterpiece for his royal patron, Shah Tahmasp I.
AGA KHAN MUSEUM COLLECTION
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Ivory Horn (Oliphant) Southern Italy, 11th–12th centuries (mount: Great Britain, early 17th century) Carved ivory with silver mount Length 64 cm, height 34 cm AKM809 This rare carved ivory tusk is an exceptional example of the dissemination and exchange of visual culture across the eastern Mediterranean among the Fatimids (909–1171), the Byzantine Empire, and the Italian city-states. One of a few examples surviving in major museum collections, it was carved in Sicily or southern Italy, with images derived from Fatimid court culture. The tusk is decorated with a hunting scene comprising real and mythical animals running in file across its length. The exquisite carved decoration on the horn, and the English silver mounts that were added in the 17th century, suggest that it may have served a ceremonial role. Its original function is understood by some as a hunting horn and by others as a wine horn.
AGA KHAN MUSEUM COLLECTION
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Qanun [Fi’l-Tibb] (Canon [of Medicine]), Volume 5 Ibn Sina (d. 1037) Iran or Iraq, 1052 Opaque watercolour and ink on paper Folio: 21.2 x 16.4 cm AKM510 The Museum’s Permanent Collection includes one of the oldest surviving copies of volume five of the Qanun [fi’ltibb] (Canon [of Medicine]), which was compiled by the Iranian scholar Ibn Sina or Avicenna (died 1037). Ibn Sina wrote a five-volume encyclopedia that brought together medical knowledge from the Muslim, Greco-Roman, and Chinese worlds, including insights from Aristotle (died 322 BCE) and Galen (died circa 216 CE). Ibn Sina’s Qanun was translated into Latin in Toledo, Spain, in the 13th century. It then became the most influential medical encyclopedia in Europe, where it was taught in universities well into the 18th century. The Aga Khan Museum’s collection also contains volume four of this rare copy of the encyclopedia.
AGA KHAN MUSEUM COLLECTION
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Planispheric Astrolabe Spain (Historic al-Andalus), 14th century Bronze inlaid with silver Diameter 13.5 cm AKM611 In the Iberian Peninsula of the 14th century, Muslim scientists worked together with Christian and Jewish counterparts to translate and transmit scientific knowledge to Europe. This astrolabe may have been made in Toledo, Spain, then a major centre of scientific translation. The inscriptions on the astrolabe bear the names of constellations in both Arabic and Latin, with additional inscriptions in Arabic. Later, Hebrew was added to one of the plates. The plates inside the astrolabe include projections for different geographical latitudes and represent different phases of use, confirming that the practical life of this astrolabe extended beyond the place and time of its initial manufacture. One of the functions of the astrolabe in Muslim civilizations was to determine the direction toward Mecca (the qibla) and to establish the times of prayer.
AGA KHAN MUSEUM COLLECTION
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EXHIBITIONS In Search of the Artist Signed Drawings and Paintings from the Aga Khan Museum Collection September 18 to November 16, 2014 Before the 14th century, artists rarely signed their paintings, but from the 15th century there was an increasing focus on individual artists in the royal courts of Iran and India. In Search of the Artist celebrates famous artists in Iran, India, and Central Asia from the 16th and 17th centuries, the golden age of the art of the book. Many of these artists worked alongside their fathers, sons, teachers, and apprentices in court workshops to produce — and sign — their drawings and paintings. The exhibition sheds new light on these relationships, highlighting the accomplishments of such masters as Behzad, Reza-e ‘Abbasi, Mo‘in Mosavvir, and Mansur.
The Garden of Ideas Contemporary Art from Pakistan September 18, 2014, to January 18, 2015 Created for pleasure, spiritual reflection, and aesthetic contemplation, gardens have held many meanings. Beyond their beauty, they represent the human impulse to organize, contain, and collect the natural world. The Garden of Ideas, guest curated by Sharmini Pereira, brings together the work of Atif Khan, Bani Abidi, Imran Qureshi, Aisha Khalid, David Chalmers Alesworth, and Nurjahan Akhlaq. Several pieces have been made in direct response to the Museum’s own reinterpretation of a Persian garden (the chahar bagh) designed by Vladimir Djurovic. Supported by:
Capital
AGA KHAN MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS
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The Lost Dhow A Discovery from the Maritime Silk Route December 13, 2014, to April 26, 2015 Never before seen in North America, this exhibition features hundreds of rare Tang dynasty (618–907 CE) artifacts recovered from a shipwrecked dhow off the Indonesian coast in 1998. It explores the interconnections between two great powers, the Tang and Abbasid Empires, whose influence collectively stretched from the East China Sea to North Africa. In association with:
The Lost Dhow: A Discovery from the Maritime Silk Route is jointly organized by the Asian Civilisations Museum of Singapore, the Singapore Tourism Board, and the Aga Khan Museum. The objects in the exhibition are from the Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore. Acquisition of the Tang Shipwreck Collection was made possible by the Estate of Khoo Teck Puat.
Howard Hodgkin One Man, Two Passions February 21 to June 21, 2015 Two complementary exhibitions showcase the collection and work of Howard Hodgkin (b. 1932), one of Britain’s best contemporary artists. Visions of Mughal India: The Collection of Howard Hodgkin features historical works from Hodgkin’s personal collection, including an outstanding assemblage of elephant portraits, scenes of court pageantry, and dramatic illustrations of epics and myths. Inspired by India: Paintings by Howard Hodgkin presents powerfully expressive paintings spanning different periods in Hodgkin’s career. Never before have Hodgkin’s two passions — collecting and painting — been displayed in a single venue. Visions of Mughal India: Organized by the Aga Khan Museum in association with the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Inspired by India: Organized by the Aga Khan Museum with appreciation to Howard Hodgkin. The wallpaper in this exhibition was generously donated by Farrow & Ball.
AGA KHAN MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS
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A Thirst for Riches Carpets from the East in Paintings from the West June 6 to October 18, 2015 In an exclusive Canadian showing, this exhibition points to the active history of trade between Europe and Muslim civilizations while exploring how beautiful objects acquire new meanings as they are exchanged. Drawing from the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York — supplemented by loans from other institutions — it pairs mid-17th-century Dutch paintings featuring Eastern carpets with actual carpets produced in the Near and Far East during the same period. Did these carpets symbolize wealth and worldliness — or did they signify vanity and excess? A Thirst for Riches is a powerful reminder of the cultural impact of trade. This exhibition is based on the exhibition Carpets of the East in Paintings from the West, organized by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2014.
Contemporary Art from the Barjeel Art Foundation July 25 to November 29, 2015 Curated by Suheyla Takesh, Collections Coordinator and Curator of the Barjeel Art Foundation, this exhibition features some of the most exciting contemporary art coming out of the Middle East and Africa today. Representing a dozen artists, the more than 20 works selected from the collection of Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi take a diversity of forms, running the gamut from photography and video to installation, painting to sculpture. Thematically, the exhibition is united by an awareness of struggle — the struggle to cross geopolitical borders; the struggle to forge an identity in an ever-shifting world; and the inherent struggle of being an artist. Contemporary Art from the Barjeel Art Foundation is jointly organized by the Aga Khan Museum and the Barjeel Art Foundation.
AGA KHAN MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS
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Radik Tyulyush
DakhaBrakha
PERFORMING ARTS
The beautiful Aga Khan Museum auditorium hosts all manner of live performances, film screenings, symposia and talks. In our inaugural season alone, showcase performances encompassed musical styles from ghazals and Bollywood film scores to Ukrainian “ethnic chaos� music. Whirling sama dance and contemporary choreography inspired by South Asian traditions graced the stage. An international film series explored new work created along the Silk Road and Spice Route. Lively spoken word jams and improvs with both traditional and contemporary instruments energized the 350-seat venue. Tehreema Mitha
Gordafarid
Homayun Sakhi, Rahul Sharma, and Salar Nader (left to right)
Lara Bello
Tanya Tagaq
AGA KHAN MUSEUM PERFORMING ARTS
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EDUCATION AND SCHOLARLY PROGRAMS International Symposia For its inaugural year, the Museum partnered with leading academic and cultural institutions to launch its scholarly program through three international symposia: •
Historians of Islamic Art Association (HIAA) Fourth Biennial Symposium Forms of Knowledge and Cultures of Learning in Islamic Art
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The Artist’s Signature in Western and Islamic Art
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The Belitung Shipwreck and the Maritime Silk Route
These symposia featured speakers from such notable institutions as the Georgian National Museum, Tbilisi, Georgia; The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Cambridge University; Harvard University; The Walters Art Gallery; Victoria and Albert Museum; University of Edinburgh; the Smithsonian Institution; and Institut national d’histoire de l’art, Paris.
Public Lecture Series HISTORIANS OF ISLAMIC ART ASSOCIATION Fourth Biennial Symposium, October 16-18, 2014 Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, Canada
The Artist’s Signature
The Aga Khan Museum also launched a public lecture series with prominent speakers who shared their expertise and opinions on the arts of Muslim civilizations. •
Treasures of the Aga Khan Museum: The Power of Cultural Personality in the Lands of Islam Dr. Assadullah Souren Melikian-Chirvani
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Making History: Contemporary Art in the Middle East Dr. Glenn Lowry
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The Garden of Ideas Artist Panel Sharmini Pereira (moderator)
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Saints and Superheroes: The Visual Culture of Pakistan Dr. Jamal Elias
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The Canticle of the Birds
in Western and Islamic Arts Sunday, November 2, 2014 What does the artist’s signature mean? This one-day international symposium raises questions about the meaning of signatures on works of art. Issues such as the individuality of the artist versus the artist’s workshop, training and apprenticeship, and the role of connoisseurship have shaped recent art historical scholarship and the response from the art market. In Search of the Artist: Signed Drawings and Paintings from the Aga Khan Museum Collection, one of the inaugural exhibitions at the Aga Khan Museum, showcases drawings and paintings from 16th- and 17th-century Iran and India that are signed by or attributed to a known artist. In addition to presenting some of the Museum’s exceptional drawings, the exhibition challenges the notion that there were no known artists in the Islamic world before the current flourishing of the contemporary Islamic art market, and contributes to the larger discussion of the meaning of the artist’s signature.
Dr. Michael Barry
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AGA KHAN MUSEUM EDUCATION AND SCHOLARLY PROGRAMS
Shop
Selected Publications Children’s Book
Featuring jewellery, ceramics, toys, and textiles made exclusively for the Aga Khan Museum by local and international designers, the Shop is an essential stop during any visit.
Elizabeth Laird Illustrated by Sadiqi Beg 64 pages Jan 2014
The Shop also includes a broad range of Museum publications among items carefully chosen to complement the Museum’s collections, exhibitions, and programming. Aga Khan Museum Guide Philip Jodidio, Ruba Kana’an, Assadullah Melikian-Chirvani, Henry S. Kim 176 pages Nov 2014
Exhibition Catalogue Filiz Çakır Phillip 144 pages Oct 2014
Dine Fine dining experiences for lunch, themed dinners, and private events are offered at Diwan at the Aga Khan Museum. Diwan’s elegant interior features 19thcentury wooden panels hand-carved and painted in Damascus. Floor-toceiling windows overlook an intimate patio and offer a breathtaking view of the formal garden designed by Lebanese-Serbian landscape architect, Vladimir Djurovic.
AGA KHAN MUSEUM PUBLICATIONS, SHOP, AND DINE
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INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS Since 2007, over 1 million people have experienced the splendour of the Aga Khan Museum collection through a series of travelling exhibitions. In addition to four exhibitions showcasing objects from the Permanent Collection at North American venues, the following exhibitions visited venues worldwide: Jul–Aug 2007
Oct 2007–Jan 2008
Mar–Jun 2010
Nov 2011–Feb 2012
The Ismaili Centre
The Louvre
Martin-Gropius-Bau
The State Hermitage Museum
London, United Kingdom
Paris, France
Berlin, Germany
St. Petersburg, Russia
Oct 2009–Jan 2010 CaixaForum Barcelona, Spain
Jun–Sept 2009 CaixaForum Madrid, Spain
Oct 2008–Jan 2009 The Real Fundación Toledo, Spain Mar–Jun 2012 Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Jul–Oct 2012 Asian Civilisations Museum Singapore
Mar–Jul 2008
Mar–Jun 2007
Nov 2010–Feb 2011
Mar 2014
The Gulbenkian Museum
Parma, Italy
Sakip Sabanci Museum
The Ismaili Centre
Istanbul, Turkey
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Lisbon, Portugal
AGA KHAN MUSEUM
INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS
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Board of Directors HIS HIGHNESS THE AGA KHAN (CHAIR), Chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), is the 49th hereditary Imam (Spiritual Leader) of the Ismaili Muslims. PRINCE AMYN AGA KHAN (VICE-CHAIR) is Chairman of the Executive Committee (and Member of the Board) of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, which initiates and supports economic development activities in Africa and Asia. MALIK TALIB (SECRETARY), a Canadian entrepreneur and tax lawyer, is CEO of the Talmont group of companies and the current President of the Ismaili Council for Canada. PETER GEORGE, a Canadian economist, served three five-year terms as President and Vice-Chancellor of McMaster University. VARTAN GREGORIAN, President of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, has served as President of Brown University and as President of the New York Public Library. HUGUETTE LABELLE, Chair of the Board of Transparency International, has previously served as President of the Canadian International Development Agency and Chancellor of the University of Ottawa. AMIN LALJI is CEO of the Larco Group of Companies, as well as Chairman of the Aga Khan Foundation Canada National Committee. SHABIN MOHAMED is a Trustee of the Board of the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) and a member of the Board of the Toronto International Film Festival and the Advisory Board to the Ryerson Image Centre. LUIS MONREAL, the General Manager of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), was previously the Secretary-General of the International Council of Museums at UNESCO and Director of the Getty Conservation Institute. HILARY M. WESTON served as the 26th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 1997 to 2002. She has also served as Chair of the Renaissance ROM Campaign, Trustee of the AGO and Director of Selfridges Luxury Group International. JAMES WOLFENSOHN, the ninth President of The World Bank Group, has also served as Chairman of the Boards of both The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Carnegie Hall.
AGA KHAN MUSEUM BOARD OF DIRECTORS
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Image Captions: Page 8: Top: Detail of An Aged Pilgrim, single-page painting, signed by Nader al-Zaman, India (Historic Hindustan), ca. 1618, AKM152. Bottom: Detail of Trespass, Imran Qureshi, 2014. Page 9: Top: Detail of Ewer, probably Gongxing kilns, Henan Province, China, 825–50, Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore, Acc. No. 2005.1.00900-1/2–2/2.
Bottom left: Detail of Maharaja Bakhat Singh, Nagaur, Rajasthan, India, ca. 1735, The Collection of Howard Hodgkin, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Acc. No. LI118.36. Bottom right: Detail of Autumn in Bombay, Howard Hodgkin, 2010–2014. Page 10: Top: Detail of A Musical Party, Gabriël Metsu, 1659, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Bottom: Suspended Together – (Standing Dove, Eating Dove), Manal al-Dowayan, 2012. Page 12: Detail of Elephants by a River, folio from a dispersed Babur-Nameh (Chronicles of Babur), signed by Kanha and Ekhlas, India or Pakistan (Historic Hindustan), ca. 1589, AKM183.
Image Credits: Photographs by Janet Kimber © The Aga Khan Museum, 2015: front cover and pages 3, 13 (bottom right), 15.
The collection of Howard Hodgkin © Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford: page 9 (bottom left).
Photograph by Niccolò Corradini, Capital D Studio © Barjeel Art Foundation, 2015: page 10 (bottom).
Photographs by Sean Weaver © The Aga Khan Museum, 2015: pages 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 13 (top right).
Photograph by Prudence Cuming Associates © Howard Hodgkin, 2015, courtesy of Gagosian Gallery Paris, France: page 9 (bottom right).
Photograph by Aabvaan Barron, courtesy of Tehreema Mitha: page 11 (Tehreema Mitha).
Photograph by John Tsantes and Robert Harrell, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery © Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore, 2015: page 9 (top).
Copyright © The Metropolitan Museum of Art: page 10 (top).
Photograph by Jay Blakesberg © Aga Khan Music Initiative: page 11 (Homayun Sakhi, Rahul Sharma, and Salar Nader).
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