Sacred Art and Music of the Muslim World in Parma,
Italy
Aga
Khan Trust for Culture, Teatro Regio di Parma and
Parma Capitale della Musica Present Five Concerts
of Traditional Central Asian Music and an Exhibition
of Masterpieces of Art from the Aga Khan Museum Collections
Parma,
30 March 2007
– His Highness the Aga Khan and Mr. Elvio Ubaldi,
Mayor of Parma, inaugurated “Splendori a Corte”,
an exhibition of rare art and manuscripts from the
Aga Khan Museum collections being shown at the Palazzo
della Pilotta in Parma. In addition to the exhibition,
the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, in collaboration with
the Teatro Regio di Parma and Parma Capitale della
Musica, presented a programme of sacred music from
Central Asia.
The
Exhibition, which will open on 31 March 2007, will
run for two months in Parma and then appear in other
European cities. The music programme, which presents
a panoramic view of Central Asia’s musical traditions,
opened at the Teatro Regio on 30 March 2007. Four
other concerts, featuring four different performing
ensembles, are running from 31 March to 1 April 2007
at the Palazzo della Pilotta.
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A
Fatimid jar from the 10th or 11th centuries
is featured in the Splendori a Corte
Exhibition in Parma, Italy. |
“This
Exhibition of artistic masterpieces from the Islamic
world underlines that the arts, particularly when
they are spiritually inspired, can become a medium
of discourse that transcends the barriers of our day-to-day
experiences and preoccupations,” said His Highness
the Aga Khan. “Many questions are currently
being raised in the West about the Muslim world, with
countless misconceptions and misunderstandings occurring
between our contemporary societies. I hope that this
exhibition will hold a special significance at a time
which calls for enlightened encounters amongst faiths
and cultures.”
The
Exhibition is dedicated to the presentation of Muslim
arts and culture in all their historic, cultural and
geographical diversity. The selection of artwork is
made from the permanent collections of the Aga Khan
Museum, which will open in Toronto, Canada, in 2010.
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
political crises of the last few years, and the large
numbers of Muslims emigrating to the West, have revealed
– often dramatically – the considerable
lack of knowledge of the Muslim world in many Western
societies,” said Luis Monreal, General Manager
of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. “This ignorance
spans all aspects of Islam: its pluralism, the diversity
of interpretations within the Qur’anic faith,
the chronological and geographical extent of its history
and culture, as well as the ethnic, linguistic and
social diversity of its peoples. The supposed ‘clash
of civilisations’ is in reality nothing more
than a manifestation of mutual ignorance.”
The
opening concert took place on 30 March 2007 at the
Teatro Regio di Parma with all four ensembles performing
for 25 minutes. Each group’s performance was
introduced by a five-minute documentary film subtitled
in Italian that portrayed the musicians in their home
communities and provided a cultural context for their
art.
The
four individual concerts are taking place at the Palazzo
della Pilotta, featuring single ensembles during one-hour
performances. Each performance is preceded by a twenty-minute
introduction that includes a brief presentation of
the musical tradition and a five-minute documentary
film on the musicians.
AKTC’s
programmes encompass a wide series of activities aimed
at the preservation and promotion of various elements
of the material and spiritual heritage of Muslim societies.
The Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia is an
initiative for the preservation of the musical heritage
of Central Asia, which both supports master interpreters
and music tradition bearers, and carries out the recording
and publication of musical anthologies of the various
ethnic groups in that region. AKTC also supports the
Muslim arts and architecture departments of Harvard
University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
as well as ArchNet, a major online resource on Islamic
architecture. AKTC includes the Aga Khan Award for
Architecture, established thirty years ago and created
to draw attention to and recompense outstanding examples
of architectural excellence as well as projects which
provide solutions for the most acute social needs
which exist in Muslim societies.
These
programmes are part of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture
(AKTC), the cultural agency of AKDN, which uses cultural
heritage as a means of supporting and catalysing development
– a strategy seldom employed by other international
agencies. AKTC programmes are aimed at revitalising
historic cities in the Muslim world both culturally
and socioeconomically. Over the last decade, this
approach has demonstrated its unique potential, through
projects which rehabilitate monuments and public spaces
and generally enhance the urban environment, including
historic areas in Cairo, Kabul, Herat, Aleppo, Delhi,
Zanzibar, Mostar, Timbuktu and Mopti. Coupled with
socioeconomic initiatives (microfinance programmes,
vocational training, health care, early child development,
etc.), this approach produces measurable results which
have a direct impact on social opportunities and the
quality of life in what are often contexts of extreme
poverty.
The exhibition will be open from 31
March to 3 June 2007 at Parma's
Palazzo della Pilotta. The
exhibition is open Tuesday through Sunday 10.00 –
19.00. Mondays the exhibition is closed, except the
9th, 23rd, and 30th of April.
For
more information, please contact:
Sam
Pickens
Information Officer
Aga Khan Development Network
P.O. Box 2049
1211 Geneva 2
Switzerland
Tel: (+41 22) 909 7277
Fax: (+41 22) 909 7291
Notes
on the Aga Khan Development Network
The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) is a group
of private development agencies working to empower
communities and individuals, often in disadvantaged
circumstances, to improve living conditions and opportunities,
especially in Central and South Asia and sub-Saharan
Africa. The Network's agencies work for the common
good of all citizens, regardless of their gender,
origin or religion. Its underlying impulse is the
ethic of compassion for the vulnerable in society.
Its annual budget for social and cultural development
activities is US$300 million.
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