BAREEDAD|DAR Newsletter of the Friends of the Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah Issue 2, 2015
Dear Friends,We have lots of catching up to do and we’re going to get started on that right now. I think it’s fair to say that this is a ‘global’ issue, with the highlights including the expansion of our exhibition in Houston, participation in International Museum Day and, here at home, the Global Art Forum. Friends went to Iran on a DAI cultural exhibition and collection objects travelled as loans to four different international exhibitions. As you can see, we were very busy.
Bader al Baijan DAI Steering Committee
IN THISISSUE• NewExhibitioninHouston
• GlobalArtForum
• YarmoukHostsNativeAmericanStoryteller
• InternationalMuseumDay
• AnnualNuqatConference
• LoansfromTheal-SabahCollection
• CS20Children’sprogrammesEndonaHighNote
• DAIAdultWorkshopsWereFunforAll
• MuseumShopCorner:‘SplendorsoftheAncientEast’exhibitionandthebookArts of the Hellenized East
January marked the opening of an important exhibition of Islamic art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The partnership with The al-Sabah Collection continued, with an expanded installation of Arts of Islamic Lands: Selections from The al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait, on view beginning Saturday, January 31, 2015. The opening followed the Museum’s Arts of the Islamic World Gala on Friday, January 30, 2015.
The landmark partnership with The al-Sabah Collection, one of the greatest privately held collections of Islamic art in the world, was first announced in November 2012 by Museum director Gary Tinterow and The al-Sabah Collection co-owners Sheikha Hussah Sabah al-Salem al-Sabah and Sheikh Nasser Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah. As a result of that agreement, an exhibition debuted in January 2013 with a presentation of 67 objects ranging from carpets and architectural fragments to exquisite ceramics, metalwork, jewelry, scientific instruments, and manuscripts. The expanded exhibition increases the artworks on view to more than 250 objects, more than tripling the display,that, together, present an impressive and comprehensive range of Islamic art.
Masterpieces from The al-Sabah Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
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“Since its inception in 1983, part of our vision for the Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah has been the sharing of works of art from The al-Sabah Collection with the public, in and out of Kuwait,” said Sheikha Hussah. “These objects are tangible products of artists and artisans from Islamic lands, representing more than 13 centuries of art, history and culture. The expansion of the Arts of Islamic Lands: Selections from The al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait exhibition at the museum echoes Gary Tinterow’s vision for the Museum of Fine Art, Houston. His efforts reflect his recognition that there is a community that deserves to be represented in the museum and an audience that is open to learning more about the art and culture of the Islamic world. With more than two hundred objects from The al-Sabah Collection on display at the MFAH, the museum is where our visions meet.”
The Arts of Islamic Lands: Selections from The al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait exhibition wouldn’t have been possible without the hard-work and dedication of the DAI and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston exhibition and installation teams.
Sheikha Hussah speaking at the opening of Arts of Islamic Lands: Selections from The al-Sabah Collection Kuwait at the Museum of Fine Art, Houston.
Friends of the DAI enjoyed a fascinating visit to Iran, discovering both small country places and large urban areas – always with minarets in sight.
The al-Sabah Collection at the MFAHThe newly expanded version of Arts of Islamic Lands: Selections from The al-Sabah Collection Kuwait more than triples the display, increasing the art on view to some 250 works. Together the objects, from the 8th to 18th centuries and made in North Africa, the Middle East, Turkey, India, the IberianPeninsula, and Central Asia, present an impressive and comprehensive spectrum of Islamic art. They demonstrate the development of techniques, craftsmanship, and aesthetics in Islamic visual culture. As a result, visitors to the exhibition will be exposed to a broad spectrum of Islamic art and culture.
The final stage of installation of Arts of Islamic Lands: Selections from The al-Sabah Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. This expanded installation increases the artworks on view to more than 250 objects, more than tripling the display, that present an impressive and comprehensive range of Islamic art.
DAI Director General Sheikha Hussah touring the exhibition with MFAH Director Gary Tinterow and Rima Shehadeh.
Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah’s Director General Sheikha Hussah Sabah al-Salem al-Sabah meets the former President of the United States of America George H. W. Bush and his wife, the former First Lady, Barbara Bush for the second time when visiting their home state of Texas for the opening of Arts of Islamic Lands: Selections from The al-Sabah Collection Kuwait at the Museum of Fine Art, Houston.
Sheikha Hussah with Houston Museum of Fine Arts Director Gary Tinterow
Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah curator Salam Kaoukji with Gary Tinterow
Gary Tinterow with volunteers Sabiha Rehmatulla and Sima Ladjevardian
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MFAH Curator Aimee Froom checks on the displays at Arts of Islamic Lands
Objects AbroadDar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah exhibitions regularly travel the world, drawing large crowds and favourable reviews. Al-Fann, which opens in Kuwait in April 2016, was a successful exhibition in Milan, Italy, Vienna, Austria, Seoul, Korea and, most recently in Rome, Italy. But it is important to recognise that objects from The al-Sabah Collection collection also travel in exhibitions organised by leading cultural institutions around the world.
Four objects from the collection were included in the Traveling the Silk Road: Ancient Pathway to the Modern World exhibition curated by the American Museum of Natural History in New York, USA in 2009. The exhibition “brought to life one of the greatest trading routes in human history, and showcased the goods, cultures, and technologies from the far reaches of China through the cities and empires of Central and WestAsiafrom600CEto1200CE.”
The Global Art Forum took centre stage at Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah’s Amricani Cultural Centre on 14 and 15 March 2015. Art Dubai’s event, the largestannualartsconference in theMiddleEast,was held at the Amricani, with special exhibitions and events held across Kuwait City. The forum is known as an innovative platform for cultural debate, featuring live talks and presentations, plus commissioned research and projects. Titled “Download Update?” the conference took on the theme of technology and the impact on the world of art, culture and beyond. Co-directed by Turi Munthe and Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, with Shumon Basar as Director-at-Large, the Forum discussed how technologies have transformed not only the way we work, but how we think, interact, learn and
Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah Hosts 9th Global Art Forum
create. The line-up of speakers ranged from those at the forefront of new developments in technology to artists, writers and curators engaged with technologies in particularly innovative ways.
“The 2015 art forum will alter the conversation about technology and the Middle East, and shedlight on how the region’s culture in being influenced by the streams of communication innovations that have appeared in the past few decades,” says Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, Global Art Forum Co-director.
Speaking to the Creative Times Report, Sultan Al Qassemi explained that was selected to host the Global Art Forum because “Kuwait was the launchpad for the globalization of Gulf culture over half a century ago. Kuwait is where some of the earliest radio, cinema, theater and even political and social movements of the Gulf originated several decades ago. Kuwait was also the launchpad for the first Gulf publication in color that was sold not only in the streets and markets of the Gulf but also in Cairo, Damascus and Beirut. So for the first time, the Gulf had moved from being a receiver of culture, from the West, India and other parts of the Arab world, to being a broadcaster, a publisher, a producer of popular content. This is our way of tipping our hat to Kuwait and recognizing its pioneering role in the globalization of culture.”
Global Art Forum Kuwait was supported by The Tamdeen Group and held in association with Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah, the Sultan Gallery and Nuqat, with the International New York Times as the international media partner.
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After almost a year in New York, Traveling the Silk Road: Ancient Pathway to the Modern World (including the objects from The al-Sabah Collection) moved on to Asia and Europe before returning to the UnitedStates. The six year journey included stops at the The National Museum of Natural Science inTaichung, Taiwan; The National Museum of Australia in
Canberra; the Azienda Speciale Palaexpo in Roma, Italy; the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County in California, USA; the Cleveland Museum of Natural History in Ohio, USA; and finally the Denver Museum of Nature and History, where it closed in May 2015.
EightMughal objects fromThe al-SabahCollectionwere included in Akbar. The Great Emperor of India. The exhibition, which ran 3.5 months from 2012 – 2013, was organised by Fondazione Roma-Arte-Musei and shown at the Museo Fondazione Roma, Palazzo Sciarra, Rome, Italy. “The exhibition evokes the historical and social environment of the period and the splendour of the Moghul court.”
The Focus-Abengoa Foundation opened the exhibition Nur: Light in Art and Science from the Islamic World at the Hospital de los Venerables in Seville,
Spain on 24 October 2013 with 18 objects from The al-Sabah Collection. The exhibition covered “more than ten centuries and including ancient artworks and objects from throughout the Islamic world.” After four months in Spain, the exhibition travelled to the Dallas Museum of Art in Texas, USA where it ran from March – June 2014.
The Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar hosted objects from The al-Sabah Collection in their Hajj: Journey to Mecca exhibition. The exhibition, the first exhibition in the Muslim world to explore the art revolving around pilgrimage, opened in October 2013 and ran through January 2014.
October 2013 saw the opening of The Body In Indian Art exhibition at the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels for four-months during the cultural extravaganza Europalia.India.CuratedbyNamanPAhuja,associateprofessor of Ancient Indian Art and Architecture at Jawaharlal Nehru University, the exhibition included objects from The al-Sabah Collection. When the exhibition closed in Belgium in early 2014, it travelled to the National Museum in Delhi, where it ran from March 14-June 7, 2014
DAI Celebrates International Museum Day at Amricani Cultural Centre
For the third year in a row, the DAI joined more than 35,000 museums in 145 countries to celebrate the role of cultural organisations in the community. This year’s International Museum Day (IMD) carried the theme “Museums for a Sustainable Society” and challenged museums to be part a cultural driving force for the sustainable development of the world.
The DAI’s festival featured tours of Splendors of the Ancient East: Antiquities in The al-Sabah Collection, Long Ago Zoo: Animals in The al-Sabah Collection, Splendors from the Kuwait National Museum, and Story of Amricani specially planned to reach visitors of all ages. Activities for children, including a children’s play by Nasser al-Nasser, gave young people chance to explore their creativity; adults had similar opportunities in a series of workshops held throughout the day. Souk Qibla debuted and was well received by both the local entrepreneurs and IMD participants, as were the outdoor concerts, graffiti wall and photo booth.
“This is an exciting event for us,” said Sheikha Hussah. “It helps us remember that we are part of an international community and gives us the chance to shareallthreeofthe3Es(education,entertainmentand enlightenment) with our friends.”
For the first time, art galleries in Kuwait were invited to participate in International Museum Day, giving participants the chance to explore contemporary Islamic art. Three of the country’s leading galleries, Boushahri Gallery, Dar al-Funoon and Sultan Gallery accepted our invitation, creating an exhibition of more than 100 objects. Boushahri Gallery, founded by one of Kuwait’s renowned sculptors and supporters of the arts Jawad Boushahri, is one of the oldest, private art galleries in the region. Dar al-Funoon promotes the work of contemporary artists from the region and inspires art enthusiasts and art lovers. Finally, the Sultan Gallery has played an important role in introducing Arab artists to broader audiences, and helping to establish a vital dialogue among artists and institutions working internationally for more than 40 years.
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SPONSORS
Cultural Season 20 was rich with opportunities for Friends to get hands on with various visual arts in the warsha at the Amricani Cultural Centre. The schedule for the last half of the season included workshops on calligraphy, photography, conservation, jewellery making, animation and glass painting. For the cost of supplies, participants had 90 minute experiences with skilled instructors, creating (or at least starting) their own iteration of the project at hand.
The first workshop of 2015 was led by noted calligrapher Mustafa Khajah. Recognising that most of the participants were beginners, Mustafa’s 13 January workshop concentrated on the techniques involved in the basic strokes and letter formation.
Two weeks later, on 27 January, photographer Adil Javed demonstrated a host of tips, tricks and ways to
Animator Ahmed Alibrahim explaining animation in motion
Hands On at Amricanicapture different kinds of images. As a special treat, he taught the participants how to use candles to create truly special photographs and invited them to take part in an upcoming Candle Camera Challenge.
On 17 February, DAI conservator Sophie Budden met with Friends to discuss practical ways to solve different collector problems. With an initial emphasis on cleaning and maintaining painted objects, Sophie demonstrated safe techniques that could easily be executed at home. After taking questions on that topic, the floor was opened for other questions.
Noting that texture often plays an important part in creating beautiful jewellery, artisan Lubna Saif Abbas dedicated her 10 March workshop to surface decorations on metal and other media. She introduced several techniques for surface decoration
and help participants create their own sophisticated jewellery designs.
Friends of the DAI learned about animation creation methods from animator Ahmed Alibrahim during his 14 April “Animation as an Art Form” workshop. Ahmed, who is also a DAI docent, introduced both traditional and unconventional animation artists, animation principles and the application of various techniques on different types of media.
The last workshop of CS 20 saw DAI docent and artist Mashael Tarabulsi sharing her expertise on glass painting. Held on 19 May, the workshop introduced the basic knowledge required to successfully paint on glass. More important, the participants had the chance to create their own designs and then apply what they learned on glass objects.
Instructor Mustafa Khajah helps participants get the flow of Arabic calligraphy
Participants in the Candle Photography Workshop, with instructor Adil Javed (in striped sweater)
Mashael Tarabulsi introduced Friends to the art of glass painting
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From 14 – 25 April 2015 Friends of the DAI discovered the culture and architecture of the Republic of Iran. The sold-out trip started in Shiraz and travelled north to Tehran, with stops in Isfahan, Persepolis, Yazd and Meybod. Along the way, the group had the chance to meet Iranians from big cities, small cities and even smaller villages. These interactions were unanimously declared “the best part of the trip.”
The trip got off to a magical start, with a nighttime visit to Shiraz’s Shāh Chérāgh (Persian for “King of the Light”) Mosque. The interior is covered with mirrors and coloured glass which created an infinite reflection of soft light that most Friends found awe-inspiring. Time spent in Isfahan’s Naqsh-e Jahan Squarewasalsoconsideredahighlight.“EverythingisatorofftheSquare:beautifulmosques,theGrandBazaar, stunning palaces and gardens” and the Friends took full advantage of that.
The immense stone terrace (530 m by 330 m) of Persepolis set the stage for a day of reliving the Achaemenid past. The remains of Takht-e-Jamshid, the center for ritual ceremonies in the days of Darius and Xerxes and Naqsh-e Rostam, the tomb of king Darius I theGreat (522-486BCE) carved into a cliff,were two of the many spellbinding sites in the almost 3,000 year old city.
Yazd and Meybod were the next stops, en route to Tehran. The history and architecture of pigeon towers, ice houses (yakhchal), zoroastrian Fire Temples and the Shah Abbasi Caravanserai captivated the Friends. The diversity of lifestyle buildings allowed the group to “imagine what living there 500 years ago was like.”
Tehran proved to be a fitting end, offering an enjoyable mix of contemporary and historic sites. Art museums and old palaces, like the Nianvaran Palace complex, gave the group final passage from 3,000 years ago and 500 hundred years ago to the present. A lunch trip to Tehran’s popular Friday lunch destination, Darband and Derka, ensured that “local flavour” will be long remembered.
DAI Expedition to Iran
Nuqat’s conference “The Missing Link: PracticingThe Collective Approach” found a home at the Amricani Cultural Centre, 13 – 19 November 2014. The conference, which mixed lectures, workshops and cultural activities attracted hundreds of young (and young at heart) creative individuals looking to connect with other creative individuals.
Inside and out, the Amricani Cultural Centre was alive with activity during the first three days of the conference. In the Baha, participants enjoyed some or all of the 24 short lectures presented by actors, artists, filmmakers, designers, art therapist, curators, gallery directors, engineers, innovators, writers, musicians, and creative thinkers. With titles including Curating in Pairs; The Good, The Bad, and The Artsy; Uncommon Grounds: Intercultural Collaborationthrough Design; Creativity and Social justice: howfree design education promotes collaboration and impacts communities; and Defining the Multi-Task Creative Mind: Crossing Bridges, the conferencechallenged the participants to broaden their perspectives and ways of thinking. Outside, food stalls and pop-up shops provided both a break from the formal activities and the chance to continue conversations inspired by the ideas expressed by the speakers.
The DAI converted the historic American Mission hospitals into a cultural centre for the expressed purpose of allowing the buildings to continue their service to Kuwait. In November 2014 they did just that for hundreds of people participating in “The Missing Link: Practicing The Collective Approach”conference.
DAI’s Amricani Cultural CentreHosts 2014 Nuqat Conference
Cultural Season 20: Education Programmes Now Reach Kids 18 Months through Secondary School
All these programmes will continue in CS21 and a few new ones will be added. For information on any DAI education programmes, please email [email protected].
Cultural Season 20 saw a very active children’s education programme. The Children’s Art Workshop (CAW), for children ages 9 – 12 and CAW Juniors, for children ages 6 – 8, returned this season led by DAI DocentMahaalEssa. TheMuseumInterns,formerlyknown as Junior Docents, saw the Class of 2015 complete their service and the Class of 2016 settle in.
Two new programmes were added this season, allowing the DAI to reach even younger children. Amricani Minis, for children 18 months – 3 years old and a family member, met monthly. Potty-trained children, the ages of 3 and 5, enjoyed two six-week sessions, one in the autumn and one in the spring.
Amricani Minis is a gallery-based storytelling programme designed to support developmental goals as defined by the National Art EducationAssociation (USA) and introduce children (and families) to the Amricani. Each of the 8 monthlysessions included a visit to at least one exhibition gallery, story-time and a related activity designed to foster creativity.
New in CS 20, each of the two six-week CAW Tots sessions focused on art, with a particular emphasis on creativity. The purpose of this programme is not to develop specific artistic skills but an overall awareness of art and the wonderful ability of art to always, always be “right”. In the autumn, participants were encouraged to “Be Art Smart”. The idea of “art” was defined and the kids explored the different elements that are used to create art. In the spring, imagination was the focus of a programme that concentrated on imagination and how it is important in both creating and seeing art.
CAW Juniors and Children’s Art Workshop (CAW) participants had 20 sessions to explore different aspects of art and culture. Using objects from The al-Sabah Collection and other cultural institutions, the programme promoted an appreciation for and understanding of the art and culture around us.
DAI Museum Interns (MI) were introduced to professional opportunities in the museum world. They studied art history and observed/learned about different museum-oriented professional paths. In addition, they completed the necessary training and were valuable members of the DAI Docent programme.
The MI Class of 2015 was challenged to work together to create, curate, execute and manage every aspect of an exhibition. While the exhibition never came to fruition, the participants did a fantastic job organising and executing CS 20’s Family Day at Amricani.
MI Class of 2016 participants began discussing curating, conservation, museum management, education, and exhibition presentation and graphics, laying the groundwork for their May 2016 exhibition. They were also active museum docents.
“What we hope to get from programme, in addition to more wonderful docents, are the next generation of museum specialists. We want the kid who’s thinking about studying chemistry at university to think about being a museum conservationist. We want the one considering graphic design to look at museum applications for those talents,” said Abdulkareem al-Ghadban, NCCAL Undersecretary for Islamic Culture. “In short, we want to grow our own replacements.”
In addition, to having fun and learning more about the art and culture around them, the children also practiced important 21st century skills. Built into every DAI children’s education programme are opportunities of the participants to use/demonstrate the 4 Cs (critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and communication) that leaders in the fields of education and business have identified as critical to success in the future.
Above:CAWandCAWJuniorsperform“Gilgamesh”
Narrating the story of “Gilgamesh”, the CS20 end of year production
MI15s in the DAI’s lab
Below:MI16swithconservatorSophieBudden
As part of a critical thinking exercise, the CAW and CAW Juniors had to create hats that represented them. When complete, they modeled their hats for the Museum Interns.
CAW and CAW Juniors students had the opportunity to explore contemporary art at Dar al-Funoon, with help from owner Lucy Topalian
“My Heart is a zoo”, with lots of lions thanks to the Minis
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Multi-media arts and crafts
Creating tiles for Korean artist Ik-Joong Kang’s “Dreaming Wall” mural at the Incheon International Airport in Korea
Taking a page from Huckleberry Finn, the Minis painted an alphabet mural for the workshop
Amricani Minis used crayons and glue to create masterpieces Finger painting was one of the Tots’ favourite activities
Tots created ‘flip books’, which allowed them to mix and match animal heads and bodies
The Minis (and Mommies) were inspired to create “art” by Patrick McDonnell’s children’s book “Art”
Iconlns 10 rCarpetNorth-west or Central IranEarly18thcenturyWarp and weft of cotton, pile of woolLength 925 cm; width 380 cm
This is an amazing pile carpet laid out as a four-section garden, known in Persian as chahar bagh. It is impressive in both its beauty and its size and includes representations of plane trees with perching birds, flower beds and platforms separated by water channels. The border is cypress trees, shrubs and birds. There is also an off-centre central pond with four peacocks.
This garden carpet is included in the al-Fann: Art from Islamic Civilization exhibition, which will open at the Amricani Cultural Centre in April. Al-Fann is a fantastic exhibition that provides a comprehensive overview of art from the broadest spread geographical and chronological spread of the Islamic world. Al-Fann, which is being enlarged for exhibition in Kuwait, attracted huge audiences during its run in Milan, Rome, Seoul, and Vienna. It is certain to be a “must see” for residents and visitors to Kuwait in 2016.
We introduce to you this wonderful variety of boxes which were inspired by objects from the Splendors of the Ancient East: Antiquities from The al-Sabah Collection exhibition (and accompanying catalog) which is soon to close, after having been on view since April 2013. This is a rich collection of material for the most part previously unpublished, until the launch of ‘Arts of the Hellenized East’,the sixth volume in The al-Sabah Collection celebrated series by Thames & Hudson. This book, by leading international expert Martha L. Carter with contributions by Prudence O. Harper and Pieter Meyers, explores the treasures of the Collection of precious metalwork and gems of the Pre-Islamic era, providing insight to this wide geographical and historical area, much of which is little known and understood outside of the specialist realm. LNS 1232 M is one of a pair of large gilded silver bowls with calyx medallions surrounded by dolphins. The bowls were hammered from a silver sheet; the dolphins separately hammered in repoussé and the central calyx medallion also separately hammered. All the applied elements were chased, gilded and soldered to the bowl. From Bactria, Hellenistic
Museum Shop Corner:‘Splendors of the Ancient East’ exhibition and the book Arts of the Hellenized East
period,3rdtomid-2ndcenturyBCE,theseservedasthe inspiration for the hand-crafted metal inlay wood boxes and hand painted enamel on metal boxes of various sizes. All of these lovely boxes were exclusively designed and handcrafted in India They are available for purchase in our Museum Shops at the Yarmouk Cultural Centre and Amricani Cultural Centre. Brilliant gifts for any occasion, we look forward to your visit.
The Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah library is constantly growing, with new books being added through both purchases and gift donations. The library is also a source for scholars interested in exploring aspects of Islamic art, culture and history. In 2015, the DAI participated in the Kuwait International Book Fair highlighting titles that help scholars and researchers in a variety of different fields. The featured books and texts included masterpieces by Dr Jawad Ali and celebrated scholar Basilio Pavon. From the mosques of Qurtoba to the achievements ofMughalEmperorAkbartodescriptionsofAbbasidperiod professions, the books exhibited covered a wide range of topics.
DAI Participates in 2015 International Book Fair
Native American Storyteller Dr Namorah Gayle Byrd at YCC
audiences with “trickster” stories, legends and songs at DAI Yarmouk Cultural Centre at 7 PM on Friday, 6 March 2015. For more than an hour Dr Byrd held the attention of children of all ages with stories drawn from her family and her tribe.
“Storytelling is not just for children,” explained Dr Byrd, an associate professor at Rowan College in New Jersey, USA. “The symbolic nature of the tales provides a thought-provoking experience for adults. It is a real pleasure to carry on this legacy. Like their counterparts in the Arabic traditions, the stories told in Native American tribes are sophisticated, psychological explanations of human behavior that allow people to learn for themelves.
The ancient art of storytelling is a part of traditional cultures shared by the Arab world and North America’s first people. Dr Namorah Gayle Byrd, a noted Native American storyteller, captivated
