IslamThe Worlds of

274 Pages·2009·16.16 MB·English

I
The Worlds of
slam
in the collection of the Aga Khan Museum

COMMUNITY PROJECTS. THE SPIRIT OF “LA CAIXA”.

in the collection of the Aga Khan Museum
The Aga Khan Trust for Culture

Edition ”la Caixa” Foundation
Governing Bodies of ”la Caixa” Welfare Projects
WELFARE PROJECTS COMMITTEE
Chairman Isidro Fainé Casas
Committee Members Salvador Gabarró Serra
Jorge Mercader Miró
Manuel Raventós Negra
Montserrat Cabra Martorell
Ana María Calvo Sastre
Javier Godó Muntañola
Montserrat López Ferreres
Justo Bienvenido Novella Martínez
Secretary (non-member) Alejandro García-Bragado Dalmau
Deputy Secretary (non-member) Óscar Calderón de Oya
President and Chief Executive Officer Juan María Nin Génova
Executive President of Social
and Cultural Outreach Projects Jaime Lanaspa Gatnau
BOARD OF THE ”LA CAIXA” FOUNDATION
Chairman Isidro Fainé Casas
First Deputy Chairman Ricardo Fornesa Ribó
Deputy Chairmen Salvador Gabarró Serra
Jorge Mercader Miró
Juan María Nin Génova
Board Members Victoria Barber Willems
María Teresa Bartolomé Gil
Maria Teresa Bassons Boncompte
Montserrat Cabra Martorell
Ana Maria Calvo Sastre
José F. de Conrado y Villalonga
Javier Godó Muntañola
José-Delfín Guardia Canela
Inmaculada Juan Franch
Jaime Lanaspa Gatnau
Juan José López Burniol
Montserrat López Ferreres
Maria Dolors Llobet Maria
Rosa Maria Mora Valls
Amparo Moraleda Martínez
Miguel Noguer Planas
Justo Bienvenido Novella Martínez
Manuel Raventós Negra
Leopoldo Rodés Castañé
Luís Rojas Marcos
Nuria Esther Villalba Fernández
Josep Francesc Zaragozà Alba
President and Chief Executive Officer Jaime Lanaspa Gatnau
Secretary (non-member) Alejandro García-Bragado Dalmau
Deputy Secretary (non-member) Óscar Calderón de Oya
Exhibition The Worlds of Islam in the collection of the Aga Khan Museum
Concept and production ”la Caixa” Welfare Projects
Exhibition
Photographic credits:
Curator Benoît Junod, Aga Khan Trust for Culture
ALBUM / akg-images: p. 82-83
Scientific advisors Ladan Akbarnia
ALBUM / akg-images / Bildarchiv
Alnoor Merchant
Monheim: p. 228
Fernando Valdés
ALBUM / akg-images / Hervé
Layout designer Antoni Garau
Champollion: p. 24 / Gerard Degeorge:
p. 28-29, 70, 136, 164 / Werner Forman:
Catalogue
p. 88, 106 / Andrea Jemolo: p. 112, 124 /
Authors Ladan Akbarnia
Nimatallah: p. 146-147
Michael Barry
Máximo García: p. 186-187
Sheila Canby
Azim Nanji Henri Stierlin, Geneva: p. 56, 152, 190,
Fernando Valdés 212
Catalogue entries Ladan Akbarnia (L. A.)
Cover: Firdawsi and the court poets of
Monique Buresi (M. B.)
Ghazna (detail, Cat. No. 152)
Sheila Canby (S. C.)
p. 2-3: Gushtasp slays a dragon on
Annabelle Collinet (A. C.)
Mount Saqila (detail, Cat. No. 153)
Aimée Froom (A. F.)
p. 10: A Prince visits a hermit (detail,
Carine Juvin (C. J.)
Cat. No. 40)
Marie Lamaa (M. L.)
p. 12: Manuscript of the Guy u Chawgan
Sophie Makariou (S. M.)
or Hālnāma (Book of Ecstasy) of ‛Arifi
Charlotte Maury (Ch. M.) (detail, Cat. No. 150)
Alnoor Merchant (A. M.) p. 14: Portrait of Shah Jahan with his
Fernando Valdés (F. V.) three sons (detail, Cat. No. 174)
Photography of the Works Gerald Friedli, Geneva p. 18: Young aristocrat talking to a
dervish (detail, Cat. No. 38)
Alan Tabor, London
Map Jean-Luc Arnaud
Angela Ferrante
Ortega y Palau
Graphic design Ortega y Palau
Photomechanics Igol, S. A.
© The authors, for their texts
© The photographers, for their images
© The Aga Khan Trust for Culture
© The La Caixa Foundation for the edition, 2009
Av. Diagonal, 621. 08028 Barcelona
Exhibition organized in cooperation with Acknowledgements
We are very grateful to Princess Catherine Aga Khan for the loan of artefacts
in her collection.
The Aga Khan Trust for Culture
We are also grateful to authors of texts and persons having collaborated
in the project:
General Manager Luis Monreal
Ladan Akbarnia, Hagop Kevorkian Associate Curator of Islamic Art,
Director, Museums and Exhibitions Benoît Junod
Brooklyn Museum, New York and Executive Director, Iran Heritage
Foundation, London
Jean-Luc Arnaud, National Centre for Scientific Research, Aix-en-Provence
Michael Barry, Professor at Princeton University
Monique Buresi, Department of the Arts of Islam, Louvre Museum, Paris
Sheila Canby, curator of Islamic arts, Near East Department,
British Museum, London
Annabelle Collinet, Department of the Arts of Islam, Louvre Museum, Paris
Angela Ferrante, Arts of the Islamic World Collection, Brooklyn Museum,
New York
Aimée Froom, former Hagop Kevorkian Associate Curator of Islamic art,
Brooklyn Museum, New York
Stéphane Ipert, Director, Centre for Conservation of the Book, Arles, France
Carine Juvin, Department of the Arts of Islam, Louvre Museum, Paris
Marie Lamaa, Department of the Arts of Islam, Louvre Museum, Paris
Sophie Makariou, Chief Curator, Department of the Arts of Islam,
Louvre Museum, Paris
Charlotte Maury, Department of the Arts of Islam, Louvre Museum, Paris
Alnoor Merchant, Head Librarian, Institute of Ismaili Studies, London
Azim Nanji, Professor of history of religions, Stanford University, USA
Henri Stierlin, photographer, Geneva
Fernando Valdés, Professor of Islamic arts and history, Autonomous
University of Madrid
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Table of
Presentation
Contents Isidro Fainé
13
Preface
His Highness the Aga Khan
15
A plural vision of Islam
for a singular world
Luis Monreal
19
The historical context
Azim Nanji
22
Map of the Islamic world
25
Introduction to Islamic arts
Sheila Canby