Islamic Galleries at the Met Have a Grand Reopening
October 28, 2011
It was eight years in the making. Now, New York’s Metropolitan Museum is reopening its enormous collection of Islamic art in a grand new setting. The objects span nearly 13 centuries and many cultures - and include items ranging from paintings to architectural works to medieval Korans
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The Metropolitan Museum has some of the richest holdings of Islamic art anywhere - but the collection has been largely out of sight for the last eight years, as the museum renovated. Now, the 15 new galleries have greatly expanded the museum's display space for Islamic art. The rooms are grouped by regions and period, from the 7th century to the end of the 19th century.
“Our galleries are named the Galleries for the Art of the Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and later South Asia," said Sheila Canby, the Met’s chief curator for Islamic art. "We have done that because that is the geographical region, area, that we cover."
The reopening of the Met's Islamic galleries comes at a time of heightened interest in Islam around the world, and many visitors are expected.
They will see intricately woven carpets so large they had to be carried by a team and unfolded in palatial spaces. And a tiled prayer niche from Iran that was installed facing East, toward Mecca.
Craftsmen from the Moroccan city of Fez built one of the new galleries. They spent eight months creating a traditional Moroccan courtyard inside the museum - with a fountain, columns and lacy archways and ceramic tiles on the walls.
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