The first display that greeted me was vaguely familiar
The museum still feels fresh, almost entirely new to my eyes. Growing up Catholic, Islam has always been a mystery to me. It still is, even if I'm living in an Islamic country. But that's what being enamoured is: there is so much to know about your object of desire that you want to learn it hard and fast.
I'd like to believe that Islam is a religion of peace... but the Islamic arms and armour section is pretty striking
The Church has its treasures, and so do they
A very fine chess set
This has to be my favourite sign!
Like Celtic patterns, Islamic patterns are highly mathematical
I'm a fan of the model mosques
Ari, who grew up Muslim, says that the term "islamic" should not be used so loosely as the museum does, that is, for everything that Muslims created. But to me, the adjective sums it up all too neatly: a marker telling me how little I know.
The artefacts I'm fondest of are those on paper
Like illuminated manuscripts, with much bigger borders
The most detailed Moleskine-sized book I've ever seen
great, abi! thanks for the pictures, im gonna snatch them for reference. :P islamic art is very interesting. since the representation of the human body was forbidden by mohammedans; they are restricted somehow, but i think this made them explore geometric forms, symmetries and patterns more deeply. i always have the hard disk space for this kind of imagery.
ReplyDeletesure, ian! that is true. interestingly, there are representations of the human body in the museum. hope you are inspired :)
ReplyDeletehmm maybe the restriction on portrayal of livng beings is only on certain muslim groups or periods? im no expert, but the nerd in me is inclined to look it up. hehe the books are beautiful.
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