Introduction
Currently,
the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) is in the process
of establishing three new museums in Cairo, Toronto and
Zanzibar, as part of the Trust’s programme of cultural
initiatives aimed at revitalising the heritage of communities
in the Islamic world and contributing to their social
and economic development.
Within
these broader objectives, the museums are dedicated to
presenting Islamic arts and culture in their historic,
cultural and geographical diversity. Their aim is to foster
knowledge and understanding both within Muslim societies
and between these societies and other cultures.
At
the same time, a series of travelling exhibitions and
a programme of assistance to museums in developing countries
are under way.
For
more information, please see the current brief in English
and Portuguese
(A3 format, PDF)
Current
Projects
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An
architectural rendering of the future
Aga Khan Museum in Toronto..
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Aga Khan
Museum (AKM)
The
Aga Khan Museum, due to open in 2011 in Toronto, Canada,
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.
Planned
as a venue for large international exhibitions, the 10,000
square meter building designed by the Japanese architect
Fumihiko Maki will house its permanent collection as well
as major temporary exhibitions. Surrounded by a large
landscaped park, the Museum will provide a forum for permanent
exchanges between the Islamic and Western worlds. It will
also be a major centre for education and research and
for the discovery of the musical heritage of the Islamic
world.
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 one thousand years of history, they create an overview
of the artistic accomplishments of Muslim civilisations
from the Iberian Peninsula to China. His Highness the
Aga Khan’s personal commitment to the objectives
of the Museum will keep the collection growing in size
and importance.
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 web. The building will house a large auditorium
with lecture, film and concert programmes, as well as
a library offering direct access to specialised 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.
They will be major events that will attract the public
from the densely populated areas in a 300-mile radius
of Toronto. This area contains more than 76 million people.
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.
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Plan
for the Museum of Historic Cairo, to be built
on one corner of Azhar Park, will provide a
gateway to the rich Muslim heritage of the city.
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Museum of Historic Cairo
At
the north end of Al-Azhar Park – which AKTC spent
two decades building on a 30-hectare (74-acre) site –
AKTC is now building a Museum of Historic Cairo, in cooperation
with the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt. The
Park site, bordered by 1.5 km of the old city’s
Ayyubid wall on one side, and the Mamluk “City of
the Dead” on the other, was a rubble dump for 500
years. Inaugurated in 2004, Al-Azhar Park is today a major
attraction for tourists and Egyptians alike.
The
Museum’s 2,500 square meter building will be situated
at the entrance to the historic city. It is designed to
give both Cairenes and foreigners insights into the amazing
cultural and architectural heritage of the Egyptian capital’s
historic area. The Museum will be complemented by exhibition
spaces within the neighbouring Ayyubid wall and within
major restored cultural buildings in the historic city,
which visitors will be encouraged to discover, following
special itineraries, as they leave the Museum.
Art
and architectural elements from Heliopolis, the early
settlements of Cairo, and the City’s major historical
periods will be on show, including the Fatimid Golden
Age, the periods of the Ayyubids and Mamluks, and the
era of Ottoman rule. Special rooms will recreate the atmosphere
of nineteenth century Cairo. The Museum will house some
of the great wealth of art and artefacts of Cairo’s
mediaeval heritage that are not currently on display to
the public.
To
conserve and restore the artefacts and artworks which
will be shown in the Museum, AKTC has set up a conservation
laboratory which is training young local technicians in
this field. At the same time, important art and architectural
elements for the Cairo Museum of Islamic Art are being
restored in the same facility.
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The
Indian Ocean Maritime Museum in Zanzibar will
showcase the commercial and cultural contacts
that occurred between Africa, the Middle East
and
the Indian sub-continent.
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Indian
Ocean Maritime Museum, Zanzibar
As
part of long-standing revitalisation work in Zanzibar’s
Stone Town, AKTC has restored several landmark buildings,
one of which – the Old Dispensary – will house
a museum dedicated to the Indian Ocean as a maritime space
in which, since prehistory, the exchange of goods, ideas
and myths took place between its diverse coastal civilisations.
The museum space will cover two floors of the building
and include sections on various aspects of Indian Ocean
geography, trade and culture, including the role of monsoons
and ocean currents, the evolution of Arab navigation,
and the travels of Ibn Battuta, Marco Polo, Ibn Majid,
Zheng He, and others, from the Mediterranean, the Middle
East and beyond. Other sections will recount the incursions
and eventual domination of the ocean by European powers,
the exploits of pirates and privateers and the importance
of the great trade companies.
Historical
spaces will highlight the transformation of Zanzibar as
the propeller replaced the sail and cloves replaced the
slave trade. Models of naval vessels, old navigation instruments
and maps and other original artefacts that illustrate
the history of the commercial and cultural contacts between
Africa, the Middle East, the Indian sub-continent and
the Far East will be featured. Indian Ocean ecology and
the effects of human activity on local ecosystems will
also be highlighted in interactive models and displays.
The
ground floor of the Indian Ocean Maritime Museum will
have educational and vocational training facilities, a
cafeteria and shop, and an aquarium. The celebrated Sultan’s
Barge, a nineteenth century vessel complete with canopy,
oars and gilded decoration, will be a major attraction
for visitors, following a full restoration undertaken
by AKTC.
Exhibition
Programmes
In
the period leading to its official opening, selections
from the Aga Khan Museum’s collections are being
shown in different European locations. They allow the
public in this part of the world 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.
Exhibitions
have taken place in the following venues:
