The Aga Khan Museum in Toronto

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Aga Khan Museum Collection reflects pluralism of the Muslim world and shared human heritage

European in style, this enamelled gold compendium was created for the Qajar court of 19th century Iran. It reflects both a taste for luxury and an interest in scientific knowledge. Photo: Courtesy of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture

For almost 3 000 years, merchants, artists, mystics and philosophers travelled along the Silk Road — a network linking Asia with the Mediterranean world, including Europe and North Africa. They traded in goods, shared cultural traditions and exchanged ideas and knowledge along the way.

After the 7th century, Silk Road trade routes were increasingly frequented by Muslims who were eager to expand their intellectual horizons and build on the knowledge of other civilisations. Interactions among Muslim and non-Muslim societies thrived, resulting in some of the most magnificent intellectual and artistic expressions ever conceived. Centuries of engagement had an impact, and plurality became an undeniable feature of these societies.

Showcasing the diversity of the Muslim world
“The 1 428 years of the ummah (Muslim community) embrace many civilisations, and are therefore characterised by an astonishing pluralism,” said Mawlana Hazar Imam in an address at the Louvre Museum in October 2007. Speaking about the forthcoming Aga Khan Museum, and its Collection, Hazar Imam added: “This geographic, ethnic, linguistic and religious pluralism has manifested itself at the most defining moments in the history of the ummah, hence the objective of the Aga Khan [Museum] Collection, which is to highlight objects drawn from every region and every period, and created from every kind of material in the Muslim world.”


Created for the Chinese Muslim communities or made for export circa 1506-21, this dish comes from Jiangxi Province, China. The inscriptions on the dish read “Purity”, “Blessed is he who purifies his hand from wrongdoing”, and “Ablution upon ablution is light upon light”. Photo: Courtesy of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture

Some 1 000 pieces make up the Aga Khan Museum Collection — a portion of which was assembled by Mawlana Hazar Imam’s late uncle, Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, and his wife, Princess Catherine Aga Khan, with much of the rest acquired by Hazar Imam himself over a period of two decades. The Collection has been travelling across Europe since 2007, carrying with it — not unlike the Silk Road travellers of centuries past — knowledge and ideas about different peoples, cultures and faith traditions. A succession of exhibitions have appeared at renowned museums and exhibition spaces in Parma, London, Paris, Lisbon, Toledo, Madrid and Barcelona. Currently, pieces of the Collection are on display at Berlin’s Martin-Gropius-Bau, and the exhibition is set to travel to Istanbul, Turkey, where it will be on display from October 2010 to January 2011.

The artefacts tell a story of Islam’s many accomplishments, from art and faith to science and literature. “Each object is not only a pretty thing, but usually has many layers of meaning from a historical point of view,” explained Benoît Junod, Director of Museums and Exhibitions at the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. Their geographical origins vary, and include the Iberian Peninsula and the Mediterranean, and reach as far as China. Cast in wood, stone, metals, ivory, ceramics, parchment and textiles, each piece testifies to the cross-cultural influences of Islam as it mingled with societies around the world.

A conduit for understanding and dialogue


Folios from De Materia Medica (Iraq, circa 1200). First translated into Syriac and then into Arabic, the work became a widely used manuscript for Islamic studies of pharmacology. Photo: Courtesy of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture

In the catalogue of the Collection’s Spirit and Life exhibition held in London in 2007, Luis Monreal, General Manager of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture notes: “The developing 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 and development of Muslim artistic traditions.”

The Muslim world of the Middle Ages served as a conduit for knowledge between the era of the ancient Greeks and Romans, and the European Renaissance. Classical texts were translated to Arabic and Persian, their ideas were integrated into Muslim modes of thinking, and the knowledge they proffered was augmented by Muslim scientists and philosophers.

An Arabic translation of De Materia Medica, a pharmacological compendium by Greek physician Dioscorides, speaks to the continuity of knowledge across civilisations. Visitors to the Collection exhibitions can also view rare historical works such as Ibn Sina’s (Avicena) Canon of Medicine, a formative medical text that was used in Europe for over 500 years, and is the basis of modern medicine. Together with other artefacts like a Ming Dynasty ablutions bowl from China, the Collection recounts a history based on cultural evidence that brings together communities, which at first glance, would have seemed unlikely to be linked.

At its highest level of interpretation, art conveys not only the physical manifestation at hand, but also the tradition from which it emerges. It offers the possibility of shaping relationships between peoples. On accepting the Royal Toledo Foundation Award in 2006, Mawlana Hazar Imam expressed the importance of art for the collective history of humankind. He noted that conservation of our cultural heritage “can play a central role in helping different civilisations understand each other, to appreciate how mutually enriching their historic interactions have been, and contributions of each to the common heritage of humanity.”

A new home in Toronto
The Collection will ultimately find its permanent home at the Aga Khan Museum being established in Toronto. The first museum of its kind in North America, it has specifically been designed to showcase the art of the Muslim world. Its foundation ceremony is expected to take place at the end of May.

At the opening of The Path of Princes exhibition at the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon on 13 March 2008, Prince Amyn expressed his aspirations for the Museum: “The Aga Khan Museum will help visitors to look on other human beings in other parts of the world with more comprehension. Ideally, a museum should allow those who view its collections to increase their knowledge. Every increase in knowledge increases one’s understanding.”

Toronto — and indeed North America — has become home to a growing Muslim community, whose diversity is reflective of the broad plurality of traditions, interpretations and cultures that constitute the ummah. The cosmopolitan ethic of Toronto and Canada’s pluralist values provide a suitable backdrop for the new Museum and its Collection.

Like the caravans that criss-crossed the Silk Road centuries ago, museums and their collections have become crucibles of cross-cultural dialogue that can create greater understanding among peoples. In showcasing the artefacts of the Muslim world, the Aga Khan Museum will foster a greater appreciation of our collective human heritage and shared history.


This Qur’an bifolium is written in gold kufic script on blue parchment. Created by the Fatimids during their rule in Kairouan, it is considered to be one of the most lavish Qur’anic scripts ever created. Photo: Courtesy of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture

http://www.theismaili.org/cms/999/Aga-K ... n-heritage
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The Aga Khan Museum - Online Gallery

http://www.akdn.org/museum/

Find out more
About the Aga Khan Museum

The Aga Khan Museum, due to open in 2013 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. It will also house the collections of the members of the family of the Aga Khan.
Find out more
Collections & Research

The Aga Khan Museum contains some of the most celebrated Islamic Art in the world. Click here for a database that allows you to search through the collection for information on its contents.
View Collections
Museum & Exhibitions

Art works from the Museum’s collection have been exhibited in a number of venues. Click here for more information on past, present and future exhibitions, including access to catalogues of each event.
View Museum & Exhibitions
View Catalogues
Resources & Links

Click here for related essays, news, links and other resources regarding the museum, exhibitions and Islamic art in general.
View Resources & Links

© 2007 The Aga Khan Development Network. This is the only authorised Website of the Aga Khan Development Network.

Unless specifically stated, extracts (other than photographs) may be reproduced without further permission, with due acknowledgment.
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Toronto to house only Islamic art museum in North America
May 26, 2010

Noor Javed

Artist's rendering of the Wynford Dr. Aga Khan Museum project which will include an Ismaili centre and park. The project is being designed by Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki.

http://www.thestar.com/printarticle/815031

The artistic pieces have graced the homes of Mughal emperors, adorned the gardens of Persian palaces and educated the masses of the Muslim world.

Soon, over 1,000 years of Islamic art and culture will find a permanent home in Toronto.

The groundbreaking for the Aga Khan Museum, the first in North America solely devoted to Islamic art, will take place on Friday near Don Mills Rd. and Eglinton Ave. E. The museum will be built alongside an Ismaili centre and park on a 7-hectare site at 49 Wynford Dr.

More than 1,000 Islamic artifacts from China to the Iberian Peninsula will be showcased — with 200 on permanent display — when the museum opens in 2013.

The pieces, which come from the collection of the Aga Khan family, already have more air miles than most Canadians. They have been featured in museums around the world from London to Madrid. Before they settle in Toronto, they will be exhibited in Istanbul and five other cities in the Muslim world.

The Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, will arrive Friday to put a shovel in the ground and give his blessings to the $300 million project

“While some North American museums have significant collections of Muslim art, there is no institution devoted to Islamic art,” he said. “In building the museum in Toronto, we intend to introduce a new actor to the North American art scene. Its fundamental aim will be an educational one, to actively promote knowledge of Islamic arts and culture.”

The 10,000-square-foot building will be designed by Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki, who is also working on the expansion of the United Nations building and Tower 4 at the former World Trade Center site.

“This project will help to bridge the clash of ignorance,” said Amyn Sayani, a volunteer with the Ismaili Council for Canada. “This is very much an opportunity for people to dialogue and to bridge different cultures and faiths.”

A sampling of the art coming to town:

Manuscript of the Canon of Medicine by Ibn Sina, Iran or Mesopotamia, c. 1052: This manuscript is considered to be one of the most important collections of medieval medical knowledge in the Islamic world. It was used in the 12th and 13th centuries by medical schools in Europe, almost until the beginning of modern times. The document to be displayed is the fifth book, focusing on drugs and pharmacy.

• Emerald green bottle, Iran, Safavid dynasty, 17th century: The Islamic world, mainly due to proximity, has always had close ties to the Chinese world. This bottle was made to imitate Chinese ceramics, in both colour and appearance.

• Portrait of Sultan Selim, Turkey, c. 1570: A large album portrait done in watercolour, ink and gold of Sultan Selim II. It was his father, Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent, who solidified the geographical borders of the Ottoman Empire. Selim was better known for enjoying finer pleasures such as literature, art and wine. Here, he shown by the painter as larger than life, in a luxurious fur-lined and gold garment.

• Standard (alam), Iran, 16th century: Made of steel, standards usually decorated bowls used as drinking vessels or food containers for wandering ascetics. This pear-shaped standard contains an inscription which can be read from different angles. The text from top to bottom says: “Ya Allah, ya Muhammad, ya ‘Ali” (“O God, O Muhammad, O Ali).
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Former Getty Director Michael Brand Heads to Aga Khan Museum
By Jason Edward Kaufman
Published: August 23, 2010

TORONTO— Michael Brand, the former J. Paul Getty Museum director who stepped down at the Los Angeles institution earlier this year, has been appointed to a consultancy post at the Aga Khan Development Network, a global Islamic charitable foundation that is currently building an Aga Khan Museum in Toronto. According to sources with knowledge of the hire, the position places Brand — an expert in Asian art — in line to assume the directorship of the Islamic art and culture museum when it opens in a Fumihiko Maki-designed building in 2013. Reached by ARTINFO, Brand confirmed the news of his appointment as a consultant, saying that he will be advising the organization "on strategies for the development of their international museum programs including, most specifically, the new Aga Khan Museum in Toronto.” A representative for the museum could not immediately be reached for comment.

The museum's collection of more than 1,000 items, donated by the Aga Khan and his family, includes books and manuscripts, metalwork, carpets, ceramics, paintings, ivories, hardstone objects, and woodcarving spanning the last millennium and ranging in provenance from China to Portugal. Officials at the museum say that they hope for it to serve as a cross-cultural educator about Muslim culture. (ARTINFO partner Canvas Guide reported on plans for the museum earlier this year.)

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Selections have been exhibited widely in Europe since 2007, including a survey at the Louvre in 2007-08. From October 2010 to January 2011, books and calligraphy from the collection will be shown at the Sakip Sabanci Museum in Istanbul, Turkey.

Born in 1936, the Aga Khan, Prince Karim Al Husseini, is the spiritual leader of the Ismailis sect of Shi'ite Islam, which numbers some 15 million adherents. His immense wealth, estimated by Forbes last year at $800 million, derives from investments.

Since the late 1970s he has established through his secular trust a range of cultural programs, including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (established in 1977), programs in Islamic architecture at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), a vast network that fosters innovative urban planning in Islamic communities, particularly in underdeveloped parts of the world.

Brand was director of the Getty Museum from 2005 until this January, when he abruptly resigned after falling out with James Wood, the president and CEO of the museum's parent, the Getty Trust. Wood has since passed away. Brand previously led the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond from 2000 to 2005, after serving for four years as assistant director of the Queensland Art Gallery in his native Australia.
This story was first reported by ARTINFO's IN VIEW blog.
[An unconfirmed tip led IN VIEW to announce earlier today that Brand was to head the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. That tip proved to be inaccurate and the post has been taken down.]
http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/35540 ... an-museum/
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Wynford Drive projects exhibition starts at the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto
The site of the Ismaili Centre, Toronto, the Aga Khan Museum and their Park along Wynford Drive in Toronto on 3 December 2010. Photo: Courtesy of Imara Wynford Drive


» Also see the Wynford Drive projects construction photo gallery.

On 28 May 2010, Mawlana Hazar Imam and Canada’s Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Stephen Harper, performed the Foundation Ceremony of the Ismaili Centre, Toronto, the Aga Khan Museum and their Park. Situated along Wynford Drive in Toronto, these landmark projects will add to the cultural and architectural landscape of the city, and become platforms in the search for mutual understanding among all communities and cultures.

The Aga Khan Museum and its collection reflect the plurality of the Muslim world, while the adjacent Ismaili Centre will create spaces for interaction and dialogue. The Park, which will be free and open to all, will unite the two distinctive buildings, incorporating an Islamic chahar-bagh garden with reflecting pools and walkways.

In his speech at the Foundation Ceremony, Mawlana Hazar Imam commented that these projects symbolised “the harmonious integration of the spiritual, the artistic and the natural worlds,” and a commitment to "inter-cultural engagement, and international cooperation.” Prime Minister Harper remarked that they would help “promote pluralism, peace and tolerance through the expansion of knowledge and understanding.”

To give the Canadian Jamat and the wider community — particularly the residents around Wynford Drive — an opportunity to gain a better awareness of the objectives behind this initiative, an exhibition that showcases the images and architectural renderings of the Ismaili Centre, Toronto, the Aga Khan Museum and their Park, as well as some of the Museum's Collection, will be displayed across Canada over the next six months, starting in Toronto at the Ontario Science Centre between 23 December 2010 – 12 January 2011. Also on display will be images of the global Ismaili Centres and various Park projects initiated by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture.

“Construction of the Toronto projects is well underway,” said Zool Samji, Chairman of Imara (Wynford Drive) Ltd, the developer of the projects, “and we are on schedule in terms of construction milestones.”

Over the six months since the Foundation Ceremony, Imara has been taking photographs to capture the progress of construction. From what started as a wide open space in June, today the slanted walls of the Museum are now being erected while the circular Prayer Hall is taking shape. Together they are beginning to provide a sense of the buildings and the overall scale of the project.

“Residents of neighbouring areas, as well as many other interested parties are excited about the progress of the construction,” said Samji. “We are greatly appreciative of the enthusiasm and care that is being taken by the architects and all those involved in the construction.”

Speaking about the projects and the Exhibition, Mohamed Manji, President of the Ismaili Council for Canada, said that they “are a part of the ongoing cultural and architectural renaissance of Toronto, a city recognised for its cosmopolitan cultural outlook and its intense diversity.”

Manji said he encouraged the Canadian Jamat to attend and bring their friends and colleagues to view the exhibition to gain first-hand knowledge of the projects, which reflect Mawlana Hazar Imam’s confidence in Canada, for its commitment to pluralism and its support for the multicultural richness and diversity of its peoples.
Exhibition Schedule

23 December 2010 – 12 January 2011
Ontario Science Centre, 770 Don Mills Road, Toronto

The exhibition is located on Level 1 of the Ontario Science Centre’s Entrance Building. There is no admission charge to see this exhibition; however, ticket purchase is required for admission to the Science Centre exhibitions and films.

Open daily: 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., except December 25 when the centre will be closed.
Open 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., December 26, 2010 to January 2, 2011.
For further information and directions to the Ontario Science Centre, please visit www.ontariosciencecentre.ca
Tentative dates for other regions

The following are tentative dates for other major centres in Canada. Final dates and venues will be provided in due course.

Vancouver – February 2011
Calgary – March 2011
Edmonton – April 2011
Montreal – May 2011
Ottawa, at the Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat – June 2011

http://www.theismaili.org/cms/1137/
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Construction continues at the Aga Khan Museum site in Toronto

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Aga Khan Museum + Ismaili Centre

http://urbantoronto.ca/database/project ... ili-centre
Ismaili Centre, image courtesy of Amara Wynford Drive
Park at the Aga Khan Museum and Ismaili Centre, image courtesy of Amara Wynford
Aga Khan Museum detail, image courtesy of Amara Wynford Drive
Aga Khan Museum detail, image courtesy of Amara Wynford Drive
Aga Khan Museum detail, image courtesy of Amara Wynford Drive
Aga Khan Museum detail, image courtesy of Amara Wynford Drive
Aga Khan Museum, image courtesy of Amara Wynford Drive
Park at the Aga Khan Museum and Ismaili Centre, image courtesy of Amara Wynford
Park at the Aga Khan Museum and Ismaili Centre, image courtesy of Amara Wynford
Park at the Aga Khan Museum and Ismaili Centre, image courtesy of Amara Wynford
Park at the Aga Khan Museum and Ismaili Centre, image courtesy of Amara Wynford

Muslim societies comprise a quarter of the world’s population, yet there is limited knowledge of the people and their faith in the West. This considerable lack of understanding spans all aspects of the peoples of Islam: their pluralism, the diversity of their interpretations of the Qur’anic faith, the chronological and geographical extent of their history and culture, as well as their ethnic, linguistic and social diversity.

His Highness the Aga Khan has taken the initiative to create a museum of Muslim culture: the Aga Khan Museum, in Toronto, Canada. Due to open in 2013, the Museum will be established as a permanent institution with an international scope and mission. It is dedicated to the collection, research, preservation and display of works of art, objects and artefacts of artistic, cultural and historical significance from various periods and geographic areas of the Muslim world.

The Aga Khan Museum’s educational and cultural mission is to provide visitors with an understanding of the artistic, intellectual, scientific and religious heritage of communities, both Muslim and non- Muslim. The Museum, through its permanent and temporary exhibitions, education programmes and cultural activities, will offer unique insights and new perspectives into Islamic civilizations, which will foster knowledge and understanding both within Muslim societies and other cultures.

The Aga Khan Museum will have a programme
• of activities with a strong educational impact, aimed at both general and specialized audiences. It will present and host exhibitions, music and theatre, films, lectures and cultural activities that will emphasize the plurality of creative expressions inspired by the world of Islam. It will encourage an appreciation of the shared legacies of world civilizations and act as catalysts
for better understanding and mutual respect.
• A large permanent exhibition space will house art and artefacts acquired by His Highness the Aga Khan and his family and donated to the Museum. Up to 200 pieces from the Museum’s collection will be showcased in the permanent gallery that will combine state of the art display systems with innovative approaches to design and interpretation.
Major temporary exhibitions concerning the Islamic world will be presented in historic, geographic or thematic terms. These exhibitions will draw upon private collections and institutional holdings from all parts of the world. Smaller exhibitions on specific artists and topics will also be hosted in the temporary exhibition space.
• An auditorium with 350 seats will host music performances and theatre productions, book launches and readings, films and conferences. In addition to providing a platform for the Aga Khan Music Initiative, the auditorium will host conferences with sister institutions such as the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, the Aga Khan University, and the University of Central Asia, as well as seminars and symposia in collaboration with museums and cultural institutions from within and outside Canada. These events will offer the public a varied and exciting cultural programme throughout the year.
• A world class reference library and multi- media centre, as well as classrooms and workshops for educational activities will be aimed at a broad public and all age groups.

Through these programmes, the Museum will provide visitors with an understanding of the art, ideas, literature and cultures of Muslim civilizations that have had a profound impact on humanity.
The abstract notion of light was a source of inspiration for the design of the Aga Khan Museum by the renowned Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki.

Born in Tokyo in 1928, Fumihiko Maki is one of the foremost architects in the world. Following his undergraduate studies in architecture at the University of Tokyo (1952), Maki went on to obtain Master’s degrees from both the Cranbrook Academy of Art (1953) and the Harvard Graduate School of Design (1954). After working in the United States, Maki established his own firm, Maki and Associates, in Tokyo in 1965.

For the design of the Aga Khan Museum, Maki and Associates worked closely with Toronto based and internationally recognized Moriyama & Teshima Architects.

Designed to be modern and efficient, the Museum is contained in a 10,500m2 building within a simple rectilinear footprint 81 metres long by 54 metres wide. The four primary functions (exhibition spaces, an auditorium, classrooms and workshops, and library and media-centre) will revolve around a central courtyard, which will act as the heart of the building and will integrate the different functions into a cohesive whole while allowing each space to maintain its independence, privacy and character.

The Aga Khan Museum contains exhibition spaces designed to be flexible, bold and innovative. These spaces will showcase objects in a visual setting that will allow visitors to be inspired by the great diversity of the arts of Islam.

The Museum will share the 6.8 hectare site with the Ismaili Centre, designed by Charles Correa Associates with Moriyama & Teshima Architects, and will be surrounded by a landscaped park, designed by Vladimir Djurovic Landscape Architecture with Moriyama & Teshima Architects. Together, they will constitute important landmarks and green space for the city of Toronto.

Connecting the Ismaili Centre and the Aga Khan Museum will be a beautifully landscaped Park designed by landscape architect, Vladimir Djurovic, in collaboration with Toronto-based Moriyama & Teshima Planners. Djurovic has worked to create a simple yet expressive space that will unite the two distinctive buildings and describes his vision for the Park as one that “captures the essence of the Islamic garden and translates it into an expression that reflects its context and contemporary age.” The Park will incorporate the Islamic “chaar bhag” or formal garden with reflecting pools, walkways, and components suited to the climate of Toronto, so that the garden captures the stark beauty of the Canadian winter as well as the flowering of summer. It will include spaces for educational programming and outdoor gatherings as well as offering a place of tranquillity and relaxation.

Working with the City of Toronto, additional areas will be landscaped to enhance the green spaces available to the visiting public. The goal is to ensure that the Park, through its design and extensive use, becomes a permanent legacy to Toronto and Canada. For His Highness the Aga Khan, buildings and public spaces are physical manifestations of culture in societies, past, and present. They aim to represent human endeavours that serve to enhance quality of life, foster self-understanding and community values. For the developing world in particular, they aim to expand opportunities for economic and social development in the communities they serve.

Collections

“The 1,428 years of the Ummah embrace many civilizations and are therefore characterized by an astonishing pluralism. In particular, this geographic, ethnic, linguistic and religious pluralism has manifested itself at the most defining moments in the history of the Ummah. The Aga Khan Museum Collection will highlight objects drawn from every region and every period, and created from every kind of material in the Muslim world.”
- His Highness the Aga Khan - “Musée-Musées” Round Table, Louvre Paris

The Museum collection contains some one thousand artefacts and artworks. This collection, which will continue to evolve and grow, spans over one thousand years of history. The ceramic, metalwork, ivory, stone and wood, textile and carpet, glass and rock crystal objects, along with rare works on parchment and illustrated paintings on paper present an overview of the artistic accomplishments of Muslim civilizations from the Iberian Peninsula to China.

The Museum will house and exhibit some of the most important works of Islamic art in the world. The collection incorporates miniatures and manuscripts brought together by the late Prince Sadruddin and Princess Catherine Aga Khan with Islamic artefacts and works of art collected by His Highness the Aga Khan over the last two decades.

To prepare the research on the art works, to test various musicological themes, and to develop relationships with key international partners, a series of exhibitions featuring selections from the Museum’s collection have been organized since 2007. To date, major exhibitions have taken place in Parma, London, Paris, Lisbon, Toledo, Madrid, Barcelona and Berlin. Over the next two years, further exhibitions are envisaged in Istanbul and five other cities in the Muslim world. By 2012, these exhibitions will have been seen by nearly one and a half million people and will have created a framework for cooperation and collaboration with museums and institutions throughout the world.

A Museum in Canada

“While some North American museums have significant collections of Muslim art, there is no institution devoted to Islamic art. In building the museum in Toronto, we intend to introduce a new actor to the North American art scene. What happens on that continent, culturally, economically and politically, cannot fail to have worldwide repercussions – which is why we thought it important that an institution capable of promoting understanding and tolerance should exist there.”

Canada has for many years been a beacon to the rest of the world for its commitment to pluralism. This tradition of tolerance and inclusiveness has permitted diversity to flourish, enriching the life of each individual and community that has sought to make Canada its home.

It is within this framework that the Aga Khan Museum will act as both a repository of heritage and a source of inspiration, complementing the work of the Global Centre for Pluralism in Ottawa, another new initiative of His Highness the Aga Khan, that seeks to share Canada’s experience of pluralism with the world.
Standard (alam), Iran, late 16th Century

This Museum is one of three new buildings established by His Highness the Aga Khan in Canada. Taken together, the Museum, the Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat in Ottawa, and, the Ismaili Centre in Toronto, affirm the intent to share within a western setting, the humanistic traditions of Islam and reflect His Highness’ conviction that buildings can do more than simply house people and programmes; they can also reflect our deepest values.

His Highness the Aga Khan

His Highness the Aga Khan is the 49th hereditary Imam (spiritual leader), of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims and Founder and Chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network. In the Ismaili tradition, the Imam’s responsibilities involve not only the interpretation of the faith for the Ismaili Community, but also the relationship of that faith to conditions in the present. For the Aga Khan, this has led to a deep involvement with development, as a process grounded in the ethics of Islam, in which economic, social, and cultural factors converge to determine quality of life.

The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) was founded and is guided by His Highness the Aga Khan as a group of development agencies, institutions, and programmes that work primarily in the poorest parts of Asia and Africa. AKDN focuses on health, education, culture, rural development, institution-building and the promotion of economic development. It is dedicated to improving living conditions and opportunities for the poor, without regard to their faith, origin or gender.

The AKDN works in over 25 countries around the world and employs approximately 60,000 people, the majority of whom are based in developing countries.
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Aga Khan Museum Construction Update - August 29, 2011

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good pictures.

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Even though, this Toronto Museum is still under construction but its photos looks very good and attractive, no doubt when it will be open for public then it will be best museum to visit for everyone.
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* FANNIE SUNSHINE
* |
* Nov 24, 2011 - 9:00 AM
* |


BUILDING THE FUTURE: The Aga Khan Museum
The first of its kind in the Western world

http://www.insidetoronto.com/news/local ... han-museum
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The Louvre is partnering with the Aga Khan

December 17, 2011 1 Comment

Translated via Google – December 15, 2011 – Yesterday, the Louvre and the Aga Khan Musem of Toronto signed a partnership framework for Islamic Art.

While the Museum of Louvre will open in a few months the Department of Islamic art , this agreement will enable the establishment of a policy of exchange and loans and the creation of joint projects (conferences, expertise and programs research).

The combination of the two museums had been initiated in 2007 when the Aga Khan had lent works for the exhibition ” Masterpieces of Islamic Art “at the Louvre . The Aga Khan Museum in Toronto , whose inauguration is scheduled for 2013, will focus on Islamic arts and cultures .

http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2011/1 ... ilimail%29
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Garden in the city will draw from the past to connect communities today and tomorrow

http://www.theismaili.org/cms/1313/Gard ... d-tomorrow

Gallery: Wynford Drive construction progress — January 2012

http://www.theismaili.org/cms/1321/Gall ... nuary-2012
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February 3, 2012

Steel hurdles for Aga Khan Museum build

DON PROCTER

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Fabricating and erecting 740 tons or so of structural steel required for the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto posed a series of unusual hurdles.

One of those hurdles was how to attach the steel frame for the second floor to the first floor — an inward-sloping poured-in-place concrete wall.

More....

http://dcnonl.com/article/id48623/--ste ... seum-build
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Aga Khan Museum Construction Slideshow

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cobby17/tags/agakhan/show/
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The Aga Khan Museum + Ismaili Centre Rise Alongside the Don Valley


July 9, 2012 12:36 pm | by Alex Corey | 2 Comments


The Don Valley Parkway has served as the entrance to the downtown core for countless residents and commuters alike, a drive that is loved for its views as much as it is despised for its gridlock. Memories of watching the CN Tower rise and fall amidst the lush valley defined the drive into the downtown core after long weekends at the cottage, a glimpse of the fast-paced city that awaits. While sporadic condominium and apartment towers have popped up alongside the valley, none standout quite like the Aga Khan Museum + Ismaili Centre, currently under construction just north of Eglinton and the DVP. The buildings’ unique rooflines and proximity to the parkway make-up for their relatively short stature compared to the nearby towers, and although they’re still very much under construction, they nonetheless warrant your attention as you drive - or crawl, depending on time of day - along the parkway.

Photos....

http://urbantoronto.ca/news/2012/07/aga ... don-valley
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Persian painting from Aga Khan Museum featured on Canadian stamp celebrating Eid al Adha

http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2012/1 ... ilimail%29
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http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article ... to-in-2013

Hume: Ten things Toronto can look forward to in 2013

Published on Tuesday January 01, 2013


An artist's rendering of the Ismaili Centre and Aga Khan museum being built near Don Mills and Eglinton in Toronto.

Image

Image
By Christopher Hume Urban Issues, Architecture


One year ends, a new one arrives, and with it hopes for something better. However irrational, that is the expectation for 2013 — that things will improve for Toronto. Let’s face it, 2012 wasn’t the city’s finest year. Which is not to say that we will get our civic act together, but here are a few of the things we’re looking forward to in the 12 months ahead, in no particular order:

• The opening of the Sisters of St. Joseph building at Broadview Ave. and O’Connor Dr. Designed by Shim Sutcliffe Architects, the new structure isn’t technically a nunnery, but it comes pretty close. The combined residence, health-care facility and administrative centre is contained in a spectacular copper-and-glass low-rise and a restored early 20th-century heritage residence. The opening is set for March; until then one must rely on faith.

• Occupying a large suburban site at Eglinton Ave. E. and Wynford Dr., the Aga Khan Museum and Ismaili Centre will transform this part of Toronto. Already the magnificent complex is turning heads — for now, mostly those watching as they drive by on the northbound DVP. When complete, its effect will be felt across the city. The architects — including Fumihiko Maki and Charles Correa — have created a place of surpassing beauty. As an act of faith in Toronto, a gift to the city, the centre is unparalleled.
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Opening soon: Aga Khan Museum, Toronto10

Friday

May 2013

Posted by byzbets in art / history / medieval / byzantium
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Aga Khan, museums, Toronto
Aga Khan Museum will open in Toronto in 2014. The collection will have artworks and artefacts from the Muslim world. Canada’s commitment to pluralism, tolerance and inclusiveness is what attracted the Aga Khan to choose this country and city as the home for the museum. The Aga Khan trust for culture of the Aga Khan Development Network held a foundation ceremony for the museum and neighbouring Ismaili Centre in 2010. These Museum is being built adjacent to the Don Valley Parkway on Wynford Drive, north of Eglinton Avenue East. Link to coordinates on maps.google.com.

His Highness the Aga Khan, Karim Al-Hussain Shah, b. 1937), is spiritual leader of the Nizari sect of Ismaili Muslims. Here’s a little history and background, in case you need it: the first Aga Khan was given his title in 1818 by the shah of Persia. The current Aga Khan inherited the title in 1957. Nizaris are a sect that split from the Ismaili branch of Muslims in 1094 over a disagreement about the succession to the caliphate. Most Nizaris now live in the Indian subcontinent. Ismailis are a branch of the Shiite Muslims that seceded from the main group in the eight century because of their belief that Ismail, the son of the sixth Shiite imam, should have become the seventh Imam. (Incidentally, Prince Rahim, age 41, the Aga Khan’s son, recently announced his engagement to Kendra Spears, age 24, an American fashion model.)

The museum will show works from its own collection and temporary international exhibitions of Islamic art. The permanent collection includes well-known miniatures and manuscripts as well as objects in stone, wood, ivory, and glass, and metalwork, ceramics, and works on paper and parchment. The plan for temporary exhibitions is focused on highlighting the diversity in Islamic arts and cultures. They will explore innovative topics including the connections between Islam and other cultures within specific contexts such as the arts or sciences. A series of well-received exhibitions in European cities have given items in the permanent collection a wide audience.

The museum plans on facilitating continued cultural exchanges between Islamic and western communities. Its educational programs are designed for individuals of all ages, from school-children to researchers.

And, why yes—I’d love to teach an Islamic art survey course or related course using this museums resources!

http://byzbets.wordpress.com/2013/05/10 ... m-toronto/
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Toronto Star - News / GTA

thestar.com/news/gta/2014/03/24/aga_khan_museum_and_ismaili_centre_a_dramatic_intrusion_of_elegance_hume.html

Aga Khan Museum and Ismaili Centre a dramatic intrusion of elegance: Hume
Toronto’s next important cultural institution, the Aga Khan Museum and the Ismaili Centre next door will open this fall on Wynford Dr.



By: Christopher Hume Urban Issues, Published on Mon Mar 24 2014

It isn’t every day, or decade, that the city gets a beautiful new museum, not just paid for and fully stocked, but located in a part of town where architectural excellence is rare.

Toronto’s next important cultural institution, the Aga Khan Museum, and the Ismaili Centre next door will open this fall on Wynford Dr. near Eglinton Ave. and the Don Valley Parkway. The two stone-clad structures sit in a formal Islamic garden adapted to one of the most visible sites in Toronto, a 6.8-hectare high point known to countless commuters.

Until recently, this was the location of the Bata Shoe headquarters, a John Parkin masterpiece from the ’60s. Its disappearance upset many; at the same time, how can one argue with buildings by one of the India’s most respected architects, Charles Correa; Japanese master and Pritzker Prize winner, Fumihiko Maki and landscape architect Vladimir Djurovic?

The trio has transformed a high-profile suburban plot into a place of high culture, spiritual renewal, social gathering and tended landscape. In a terrain of broad strokes and left-over spaces, the detail will go unnoticed until one gets out the car and wanders around the new complex. That won’t be possible for some time, but a quick tour reveals a series of large interior rooms designed for maximum flexibility. The main prayer hall, capped with a magnificent glass dome and filled with light, is the heart of the centre. Other rooms, more social than sacred, radiate out from the hall.

Connected but separate, the Aga Khan Museum is a medium-sized facility spread over two floors and a series of galleries. Some will be programmed for the long-term; others for temporary exhibitions.

The aesthetic is clean — teak floors, white walls and windows broken only by Islamic screens. The granite on the exterior, soft-looking and creamy white, provides the perfect foil for the rows of trees and black reflecting pools that have turned the site into green oasis.

To their eternal credit, the Ismailis have planted mature trees, some 10 or more metres tall. No whips or saplings here, but a fully-formed landscape. The grass has yet to arrive, as does the museum’s 1,000-piece collection. Hardhats and work boots are still required, but the big moves have been made and spaces defined.

The simple facts of the $300-million project would make it remarkable anywhere; but on Wynford Dr. it takes on special significance. Though just down the road from the Ontario Science Centre, the Ismailis are bringing architectural and cultural excellence to an area more accustomed to office slabs and condo towers. Surrounded by anonymity, the new arrival has quietly but decisively remade the neighbourhood. The quality of design and materials alone make it a landmark, but it’s also the obvious attention paid to space itself, as if it mattered for the first time, was even valued.

Imagine, planting big trees and installing benches in the garden, as if visitors might want to linger awhile and enjoy the place. Everywhere else, the city’s in a rush; the Ismaili Centre will be a break from that; gardens aren’t for anyone in a hurry.

The very idea of putting such a garden in land marooned by highways may seem inappropriate, even oxymoronic, but as an act of urban reclamation, it is unprecedented, magnificent. On the other hand, the site’s prominence comes from those same highways. It is a billboard, seen by millions, a sudden and dramatic intrusion of elegance into the usual landscape of Car City.

And let’s not forget, the centre has underground parking for 650 cars, another 150 at grade. That will have to do until the subway arrives.

Christopher Hume can be reached at chume@thestar.ca
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http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/architect-r ... -1.2598756

Architect Raymond Moriyama launches $100K prize

Moriyama RAIC International Prize awarded every two years for an outstanding building or project

CBC News Posted: Apr 04, 2014 3:50 PM ET Last Updated: Apr 04, 2014 3:50 PM ET
Raymond Moriyama, seen in Ottawa in 2009, has established a biennial, $100,000 international architecture prize to celebrate an outstanding building or project.

Raymond Moriyama, seen in Ottawa in 2009, has established a biennial, $100,000 international architecture prize to celebrate an outstanding building or project. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

Celebrated Canadian architect Raymond Moriyama is launching a $100,000 prize this fall that is being billed as one of the largest architectural prizes in the world.

Established jointly with the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Foundation, the Moriyama RAIC International Prize will celebrate an outstanding building or project by an architect, a group of collaborators or an international firm anywhere in the world.

Alternately, the prize could also be awarded to an individual who has made an exceptional contribution to the field of architecture.

The $100,000 prize will be awarded every two years and will be accompanied by a handcrafted sculpture by Canadian artist Wei Yew — a distinctive trophy that will depict abstractions of the Canadian landscape.

Each winner will be chosen through an open, juried competition.

"My hope is that this prize will raise not only the stature of the RAIC internationally, but also the stature of Canada, and inspire Canadians and Canadian architects to aspire higher," the 84-year-old Moriyama said in a statement.

"Anybody, young or old could apply and have a chance of winning."
Inaugural gala this fall

The Vancouver-born Moriyama made a bequest to the RAIC Foundation to create the prize and organizers aim to raise a $5-million endowment for the honour.

Submissions for the fledgling prize will be accepted until Aug. 1 and the inaugural award gala will take place on Oct. 11 at the new Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, set to open this fall.

A sidebar to the main prize will also acknowledge the next generation: three students of Canadian architecture schools will be chosen to receive scholarships of $5,000 each based on an essay-writing competition.

A companion of the Order of Canada and one of the country's best-known architects, Moriyama has created innovative projects across the country and abroad, including the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre and the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto.

Working with his longtime business partner Ted Teshima and others, he also designed Science North in Sudbury, Ont., the Scarborough Civic Centre, the Toronto Reference Library, the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo, the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, the National Museum of Saudi Arabia and the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa
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