Abstract
October 2018 saw the opening of the Albukhary Foundation Gallery of the Islamic World, two high-ceilinged rooms situated at the heart of the British Museum. Made possible by the generosity of the Malaysia-based Albukhary Foundation, this was the fulfilment of a 3-year project conceived and worked on by a team of six curators—Venetia Porter, Ladan Akbarnia, Fahmida Suleman, Zeina Klink-Hoppe, William Greenwood and Amandine Mérat. Encompassing everything from pre-Islamic inscriptions to contemporary art, Nigerian skullcaps to Chinese porcelains, the Albukhary Foundation Gallery showcases material culture from across the Islamic world. The story that it tells is one of global connections, and, through a focus on objects in their contexts, we hope to provide insights into artistic patronage and the exchange of ideas, how people lived, how they saw themselves and others and what they valued. This chapter sets out the curatorial vision, charting the steps along the way and also looking at how the gallery has been received by the public so far.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
‘Sightseer’ visitors meant some limited knowledge of the British Museum; ‘Art Lovers’ were familiar with the London pay-to-enter gallery circuit. I am grateful to Stuart Frost for making The Albukhary Foundation Gallery of the Islamic World: Qualitative Research Reports, 2015 and 2017, commissioned by Learning & National Partnerships, available. These documents will be online in 2019.
- 2.
As opposed for example to the new way of describing the galleries housing the Islamic collections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art ‘The Art of the Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and Later South Asia’, see Rebecca Lindsey, ‘Displaying Islamic Art at the Metropolitan: A Retrospective Look’, 2 February 2012.
- 3.
Museé du Louvre, Institut du Monde Arabe, Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin, David Collection, Chester Beatty Library, Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- 4.
The advisory group included M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, James Allan, Karen Armstrong, Sussan Babaie, Colin Baker, Doris Behrens-Abouseif, Dominic Parviz Brookshaw, Annabel Gallop, Tim Insoll, Hugh Kennedy, Scott Redford, Ahdaf Soueif, Susan Stronge and Shelagh Weir.
- 5.
The ‘island’ (jazira) is the land between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, sometimes referred to as upper Mesopotamia.
References
Akbarnia, L., V. Porter, F. Suleman, Z. Klink-Hoppe, W. Greenwood, and A. Mérat. 2018. The Islamic World: A History in Objects. London: Thames and Hudson.
Albukhary Foundation Gallery of the Islamic World. 2018. Explore Media. British Museum. http://islamicworld.britishmuseum.org/media/.
Albukhary Foundation Report. 2017. Albukhary Foundation Gallery of the Islamic World: Qualitative Research Report. Commissioned By British Museum Learning & National Partnerships.
British Museum. 2018a. The Making of the Albukhary Foundation Gallery of the Islamic World. London: British Museum Press.
———. 2018b. The Formation of the Collection. In The Making of the Albukhary Foundation Gallery of the Islamic World, 32–43. London: British Museum Press.
Delbourgo, J. 2017. Collecting the World: The Life and Curiosity of Hans Sloane. London: Allen Lane.
Gonnella, Julia. 2012. Islamic Art Versus Material Culture: Museum of Islamic Art or Museum of Islamic Culture. In Islamic Art and the Museum: Approaches to Art and Archaeology of the Muslim World in the Twenty-First Century, ed. Benoît Junod, Georges Khalil, Stefan Weber, and Gerhard Wolf, 144–148. London: Saqi Books.
Husain, Ed. 2018. The True Face of Islam Won’t Be Found in Mosques or Muslim Schools, but at the British Museum. The Spectator, November 3. www.spectator.co.uk/2018/11/the-true-face-of-islam-wont-be-found-in-mosques-or-muslim-schools-but-at-the-british-museum/.
Jones, Jonathan. 2018. A Soaring Miracle of Art’—Albukhary Gallery of the Islamic World Review. The Guardian, October 16. www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/oct/16/british-museum-albukhary-foundation-gallery-of-the-islamic-world-review.
Lindsey, Rebecca. 2012. Displaying Islamic Art at the Metropolitan: A Retrospective Look. February 2. www.metmuseum.org/blogs/now-at-the-met/features/2012/displaying-islamic-art-at-the-metropolitan.
McDonagh, Melanie. 2018. The Albukhary Foundation Gallery of the Islamic World Review: Treasures and Everyday Beauty in Islamic Art. Evening Standard, October 16. www.standard.co.uk/go/london/arts/british-museum-albukhary-islamic-gallery-a3962811.html.
Porter, Venetia. 2018. The Story of the Collection. http://islamicworld.britishmuseum.org/collection-history/.
Sooke, Alastair. 2018. Gallery of the Islamic World, British Museum Review: This is Islam as You’ve Never Seen it Before. The Sunday Telegraph, October 15. www.telegraph.co.uk/art/reviews/gallery-islamic-world-british-museum-review-flair-visual-drama/.
Suleman, Fahmida. 2012. Islamic Art at the British Museum: Strategies and Perspectives. In Islamic Art and the Museum: Approaches to Art and Archaeology of the Muslim World in the Twenty-First Century, ed. Benoît Junod, Georges Khalil, Stefan Weber, and Gerhard Wolf, 276–284. London: Saqi Books.
Yusuf/Cat Stevens. 2018. Yusuf/Cat Stevens: Music, Islam and Why I Still Carry a Guitar. The British Museum. http://islamicworld.britishmuseum.org/audio/19.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Porter, V., Greenwood, W. (2020). Displaying the Cultures of Islam at the British Museum: The Albukhary Foundation Gallery of the Islamic World. In: Norton-Wright, J. (eds) Curating Islamic Art Worldwide. Heritage Studies in the Muslim World. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28880-8_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28880-8_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-28879-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-28880-8
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)