C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 1 The Frame: Architecture and Design of Exhibitions of Islamic Art Courtney A. Stewart Paper given at the International Forum on Contemporary Islamic Art, Design and Architecture October 7-9, 2015 Singapore
The Frame: Architecture and Design of Exhibitions of Islamic Art
Mar 17, 2023
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The Frame: Architecture and Design of Exhibitions of
Islamic Art
Paper given at the International Forum on Contemporary Islamic Art,
Design and Architecture
C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 2
“For a ceramic plate or a brass bucket makes better sense in a room where we
can imagine it being used, just as a rug makes more sense on a floor than on a
wall. This apparent requirement of a context is important, in that the objects
lead constantly to the architectural setting in which they would be used. The
real or fantasized memories of the Alhambra or Isfahan or Cairene mosques
provide objects with their meaning.”1
These words were written by eminent art historian Oleg Grabar in response to the
1975 installation of Islamic Art at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. The clean and
sparse exhibition design presented artworks from the Islamic world in a manner akin to
modern art, devoid of context, highlighting aesthetics, and allowing works to speak for
themselves through craftsmanship, form, and technique.
Figure 1: Islamic Galleries, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1970s
It seems as though the next generation of architects and exhibition designers
listened well to this critique, as several recent constructions of Islamic art museums, and
renovation projects to existing Islamic art galleries have moved away from this clinical,
white-box exhibition design. New projects, some created by well known architects and
1 Oleg Grabar “Art of the Object” Artforum, 14, March 1976, p. 39
C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 3
designers, at the Islamic Art Museum Malaysia, The Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, The
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto all have
been designed with inspiration from historical Islamic art, and arguably provide some of
the context that Grabar sought.
In this paper I will explore historical references in the design and architecture of
these museum projects, and question whether they can be considered Islamic design or
Islamic architecture as explored by the participants at this conference. In a museum setting,
are these motifs received as contemporary design, or seen as ethnographic context?
IAMM Kuala Lumpur, 1998
The first museum project I would like to discuss is the Islamic Art Museum, Malaysia
(“IAMM”), which opened in 1998.2 This example undoubtedly has the most abundant
references to Islamic art in its design, as is outwardly stated by the curatorial team:
“In all expressions of Islamic art, there is an emphasis on the repetition of motifs.
In the IAMM, this is not only seen in the artefacts in its collections, but also in the
detailing of the museum building. Besides the columns and domes, the same
materials are used throughout the building, reinforcing the unity that is Islam, and
one of the main aspects of Islamic art.”3
Suggesting a unified visual expression between the museum structure and its artifacts, this
quote summarizes how references to Islamic art were used in the design of the building and
exhibition spaces. The designers have created a pastiche of styles inspired by Mamluk
2 Originally Prime Minister Mahathir offered for the government to pay for half, and for the private sector to pay for the rest. Syed Mohamad Al-Bukhary, the current director and instigator of the museum instead obtained full funding from the Albukhary Foundation, run by his brother, Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary. The government did provide the land next to the National Mosque. (Souren Melikian, “A Malaysian’s Tour de Force for Islamic Art, New York Times, 2002) The Akbukhary Foundation has also provided significant funding to the 2018 renovation of the British Museum galleries for Islamic art. (Ben East, The National, 2015) 3 Fong, Pheng K. Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur: Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, 2003, (p. 47)
C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 4
North Africa, Safavid Persia, Umayyad Spain, Mughal India and Timurid Central Asia, an
amalgamation which reflects the diversity of artifacts on display.
The museum's structure was originally conceptualized by Roberto Monsani, an
Italian architect known for his sleek designs of Salvatore Ferragamo's shops around the
world. Monsani's insistence on modern designs at the Islamic Art Museum clashed with
his client's desire for Islamic motifs and the project was completed by a local architectural
firm, Kumpulan Senireka.4 The combination has resulted in a modern building ornamented
with details referencing some of the most famous works of Islamic art and architecture,
creating an immersive experience for the visitor.
Figure 2: Islamic Arts Museum, Malaysia
This is visible immediately upon arrival, as the main entrance resembles a tiled
iwan of the Timurid or Safavid Period. Fabricated on site by craftsmen from Iran, this
entrance portal resembles a number of historical examples, and can be compared to an iwan
4 Lee, Yoolim “Kuala Lumpur’s Islamic Arts Museum Reaches Out to the World.” Bloomberg.com October 27, 2005 http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aOXZZRjIXWaI
C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 5
from the Registan (or Public Square) in Samarqand, each bearing a large calligraphic
inscription in colorful tile.
Figure 3: Left: Islamic Art Museum, Malaysia. Right: Tilya-Kori Madrasah, Registan, Samarqand, Uzbekistan (1646- 1660)
The white marble walls were chosen to recall the opulent monuments of Mughal
India, exemplified by the Taj Mahal (which also has a large calligraphic-covered iwan).
The museum’s name is repeated throughout the building, on glass, in marble and
wood, written in kufi banaie, or square kufic, a calligraphic style seen as early as the 15th
century Ulug Beg Madrasa also in Samarqand.
Figure 4: Kufi banaie on glass, metal, and wood in the IAMM
C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 6
In the lobby, references to the Maghreb, or the region of North Africa and Southern
Spain, can also be found, in the form of an interlocking star. This shape can be found in
other spaces throughout the building, including on the glass walls, doors, and the floor of
other museum spaces. It is also part of the museum’s logo, as well as a fountain on the
outside terrace.
Figure 5: Star-shape motif on the floor, and fountain at the IAMM
The second floor Rehal Terrace 5 has large granite water troughs, which are
reproductions of those at the Imam mosque of Isfahan, and were created by Iranian
craftsmen specifically for the museum.
5 Named for the rehal, or book stand, which holds a stone manuscript inscribed with poetry by the 13th century poet Sa’di
C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 7
Figure 6: Left, Rehal Terrace, IAMM. Right: Imam Mosque with water trough, Isfahan, Iran, 1611-29
The exterior is ornamented with further design references to Safavid Persia,
including four large turquoise domes on the roof, the main one inspired by the Lutfallah
mosque in Isfahan. The domes are completely covered in tile decoration, made up of
calligraphy, florals and arabesques.6
Figure 7: Left: IAMM, Right: Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque, Isfahan, Iran 1603-1619
The underside of these domes were crafted in stucco by artists from Uzbekistan.
Though more ornate, this inverted white dome is intended to evoke those of the Mamluk
era in Egypt, such as the mosque of Sultan Qaytbay.7
6 Also including small sprays of hibiscus, Malaysia’s national flower. 7 Islamic Art Museum Malaysia Vol. I, p. 40
C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 8
Figure 8: Left, IAMM. Right: Mosque of Sultan Qaytbay, Cairo, Egypt, completed 1474
All installations were designed in house, and are simple and restrained, allowing
visitors to make connections across geography and dynasty.
A large part of gallery space is reserved for Islamic arts created by majority local
ethnic groups, specifically Malays, Chinese and Indians. 8 According to the mission
statement:
“The museum aims to create a collection that is truly representative of the Islamic
world. Instead of concentrating on works from the heartlands of Persia and the
Middle East, IAMM also puts the emphasis on Asia. China and Southeast Asia
are especially well represented.”9
So while the institutional emphasis is on SE Asian art, the design and architecture frames
all exhibitions with references to canonical Islamic art. The visitor thereby is able to make
connections between local Islamic art, and parallel productions from the larger Islamic
world.
8 This is also present in temporary exhibitions. For instance, in a collaboration with the Museum of Cultural
Palace of Nationalities, Beijing and the Northwest Minorities University, Lanzhou, China, the 2001
exhibition of “Six Centuries of Islamic Art in China” highlighted the cultures of the Muslims in China. Or
“The Message and the Monsoon: Islamic Art of Southeast Asia” (2005), focusing on local Malaysian
Islamic arts. 9 From the museum website.
C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 9
Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, 2008
Ten years after the opening in Kuala Lumpur, the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha,
opened its doors. Like the IAMM, the MIA Doha borrows architectural vocabulary from
the canon of Islamic art history- forms and traditions that are not native to the immediate
region, but serve as representative of the field as a whole.
The intention for this adoption is best summarized by the museum’s first director,
Oliver Watson10, who has stated:
“The project was driven first and foremost by a belief that the people of Qatar,
both Qataris and non-Qataris do not know enough about and did not as it were
“own” as much as they could and should of the cultural heritage of the Islamic
world. An important initial goal is to encourage the recognition among the
Muslim populations of Qatar and beyond that this cultural heritage is by rights
theirs.” 11
10 Watson was director from 2008-2011 11 “A second goal is then to show both Muslims and non-Muslims what the heights of Islamic culture were,
and to illustrate these through objects of top quality. The audience is firstly the communities of Qatar, and
then the region, and then the world at large.” (Watson, in Islamic Art and the Museum: Approaches to Art and Archaeology of the Muslim World in the Twenty-First Century, p. 265)
C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 10
While none of the objects in the museum were made locally, the neo-Mamluk
structure and other design elements are a testimony to the cultural heritage that Qatar is
appropriating, presented with a contemporary twist.
For this project, Chinese-born architect I.M. Pei 12 wanted to create a modern
structure that “embodied the essence of Islamic art.”13- a very subjective and controversial
claim to pin down. Pei traveled extensively to view some of the Islamic world’s most
famous structures, and found what he felt to be the "purest expression of Islamic art" in
Cairo, in the center of the mosque of Ibn Tulun.14
“The small ablutions fountain is an almost cubist expression of geometric
progression…. This severe architecture comes to life in the sun, with its shadows
and shades of color. I had at last found what I came to consider to be the very
essence of Islamic architecture in the middle of the mosque of Ibn Tulun.”
With the inspiration of this ablutions fountain, Pei designed the blocky, geometric
shape of the museum, in which a dome transitions to various polygonal shapes, including
square and octagon.
12 “The design of the museum went through a long path. Aka Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) organized an international architectural competition in 1997. While getting contestants from all over the world, the jury selected eight projects for a second and final phase including signature architects like Richard Rogers, Zaha Hadid, Charles Correa and the most prominent Arab architect Rasem Badran. The last two; Correa and Badran were selected by the jury as finalists to conduct a final rival between the two of them. A tendency towards Badran’s project to be the one to build was rising especially from the client’s point of view. Without clear justification, the whole process of the competition came to a dramatic end by the client’s decision to pass the project to the Chinese- American signature architect I.M. Pei” (Alraouf, Ali A. “Islam, Culture, and Community: The Role of Museums Architecture and Urbanism, Museum of Islamic Art, Doha”) 13 Jodidio, Museum of Islamic Art: Doha, Qatar, 2008 (p. 44) 14 "These other sites lacked the “purity” offered by the mosque of Ibn Tulun, and were too wrought with mixed cultural influence." Jodidio, Museum of Islamic Art: Doha, Qatar 2008 (p. 44-45).
C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 11
Figure 9: Left: MIA Doha, Right: Mosque of Ahmad Ibn Tulun, Cairo, Egypt 884-889
Pei's design very effectively utilized the sun’s light and cast shadow to bring out
the designs of the building. 15 An awning outside the main entrance uses positive and
negative space to create the form of an interlocking star in the shadows.
Inside the central atrium, another large version of the star motif is present on the
floor, and is also the central part of a fountain in the café, as well as ceiling panels in the
elevator.
15 “If one could find the heart of Islamic architecture, might it not lie in the desert, severe and simple in its design, where sunlight brings forms to life?” (IM Pei, in Jodidio 46)
C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 12
Figure 10: Star motif on the floor, fountain, and elevator panels of the MIA Doha
The interior design also translates other recognizable architectural vocabulary into
modern forms- for example, the stainless steel dome in the center of the lobby resembles a
muqarnas vault.16
Figure 11: Left, MIA Doha, Right: Muqarnas at the Alhambra, Spain, Hall of the Abencerrajes, 14th century
And the monumental round chandelier that hangs below the dome is a nod to the
great circular lighting fixtures seen in Ottoman mosques, such as the Suleymaniye mosque
in Istanbul.
16 The dome captures light in facets, admitting shafts of sun that move across its surface, giving life and movement to the space below. (Jodidio 60)
C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 13
Figure 12: Left: MIA Doha, Right, Süleymaniye Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey 1558
Pei requested that the museum galleries be designed by his collaborator on the
Louvre pyramid project, the French firm Wilmotte & Associates. The references to Islamic
art which are so visible in Pei’s designs are not extended in the areas created by Wilmotte.
Instead, the interior design is dominated by sleek, modern forms with large panes of glass,
dramatic lighting, dark walls, and contrasts in surface textures and materials.17
Figure 13: Galleries at the MIA Doha
17 Jodidio, 86
C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 14
Pei’s abstract references to Islamic art, coupled with Wilmotte’s minimalist interior
designs, creates a very contemporary frame for historical works of art. A modern-day
Qatari citizen views their adopted cultural legacy through a rich lens of the finest
“Starchitectural” and interior design. While this may not provide historical context for the
artifacts, it does offer a very interesting portrait of how Qatar frames its adopted past- with
reverence, distance, and style. 18
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM 2011
Three years after the museum opened in Doha, the new galleries of the Department
for Islamic art were unveiled at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
The new installation sought to illustrate the diversity of Islamic art and its regional
variations, a movement away from the homogeneous presentation style which has
dominated most Islamic art displays worldwide. 19 This new methodology can be
summarized by the curatorial mantra associated with the reinstallation:
“Not one world, but many; not another world, but our own.”
In an effort to appeal to visitors in New York City, designers and curators sought to create
an enveloping sensory environment to frame the historical collection, a distinct departure
from the 1975 “white-cube” installation.
18 The creation of this museum does more than situate Doha in the history of Islamic art, it generates a
cultural history for the rising state of Qatar. “…visiting Qatar, it’s also hard to avoid the sense that the
country is intensely interested in writing a past for itself, even as the Qatari capital’s ultra-modern skyline
emerges seemingly out of the sand.” Eakin, New York Review of Books 19 “When the Met’s Islamic galleries first opened in 1975 they were presented as a cultural monolith, where nations and cultures were subsumed under one broad banner, as if Islam were another planet.” Robert Worth, New York Times Magazine
C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 15
As a first step in this makeover, the galleries formerly known as “Islamic art” were
rebranded as “Art of the Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and Later South Asia” to
emphasize the breadth of the region. 20
We attempt to convey diversity through varied colors, materials and details in the
exhibition design. 21 Stone in the floors was sourced from countries that are represented in
these galleries, providing context to the division of these works through design materials.22
The galleries were designed in-house by veteran exhibition designer Michael
Batista, in close collaboration with the curators. Unlike the new, standalone museums in
Doha and Kuala Lumpur, this project was confined to a preexisting structure, and the team
had to work with the original neoclassical proportions and design from 1913.23
20 “But the fact remains that the artworks and objects displayed in the new galleries evince more common
traits—formal, aesthetic, functional, and, yes, religious—than they do differences predicated on specific
locales or nations. Importantly, these common traits have a lot to do with Islam, not only as a religion with
its beliefs, rituals, and laws but also as an impulse for empire and as a culture with prescribed sets of
attitudes, behaviors, and even tastes and typologies, which go a long way in explaining the commonalities
in secular Islamic art as well as in religious art.”(Nasser Rabat “What’s In a Name…”) 21 “The scale, scope, and extent of color and context employed in the Metropolitan Museum’s 2011 reinstallation, however, mark a radical and definitive break with the white box principle in which the museum as its own context was ever apparent. While the return to a former historical practices and effects of installation is conducive to the aesthetic effects of the majority of the Islamic artworks on view, creating an integrated presentation – a continuity between objects and museum space- and a pleasurable ambiance and sensory experience……(David Roxburgh, The Art Bulletin p. 641) 22 Egyptian marble, Indian red sandstone, Spanish marble 23 Designed by McKim, Mead & White. The reconstruction was the work of Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo
and Associates, the museum’s longtime architects, who are responsible for its master plan.
C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 16
Details taken from the historical collection are used in distinct spaces to highlight
specific elements. For example, oversized motifs in the floor of the introductory gallery
isolate shapes from a pattern in a pair of 16th century Mughal jali screens set in the wall
nearby. The star shape also references tiles from southern Spain, on display in an adjoining
gallery.
Figure 14: Left, introductory gallery. Middle, Jali screen, 16th century India (1993.67.2), Right, Star-shaped tile, 15th century Spain (41.165.40)
Design elements such as these relate to specific areas of the galleries, and are not
included gratuitously, but to frame certain sections, and draw visitors’ attention to motifs
embedded in the artwork.
In the gallery beyond these arches, art from the early period of Islam is displayed,
and many objects in this space are ornamented with an aesthetic that harkens back to
Byzantine influences. For this reason, Corinthian columns serve as a transitional marker
into this space, which contains similar 8th century Abbasid capital from Raqqa as well as
C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 17
an inlaid wooden panel from 8th century Egypt, which is ornamented with architectural
motifs.24
Figure 15: Gallery installation and Capital from late 8th century Raqqa, Syria (36.68.3)
In another instance, a pishtaq– shaped arch as a doorway serves as another
transition between spaces, and mimics the large 14th century mihrab at the end of the hall.
Figure 16: Gallery installation and Mihrab,…
Islamic Art
Paper given at the International Forum on Contemporary Islamic Art,
Design and Architecture
C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 2
“For a ceramic plate or a brass bucket makes better sense in a room where we
can imagine it being used, just as a rug makes more sense on a floor than on a
wall. This apparent requirement of a context is important, in that the objects
lead constantly to the architectural setting in which they would be used. The
real or fantasized memories of the Alhambra or Isfahan or Cairene mosques
provide objects with their meaning.”1
These words were written by eminent art historian Oleg Grabar in response to the
1975 installation of Islamic Art at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. The clean and
sparse exhibition design presented artworks from the Islamic world in a manner akin to
modern art, devoid of context, highlighting aesthetics, and allowing works to speak for
themselves through craftsmanship, form, and technique.
Figure 1: Islamic Galleries, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1970s
It seems as though the next generation of architects and exhibition designers
listened well to this critique, as several recent constructions of Islamic art museums, and
renovation projects to existing Islamic art galleries have moved away from this clinical,
white-box exhibition design. New projects, some created by well known architects and
1 Oleg Grabar “Art of the Object” Artforum, 14, March 1976, p. 39
C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 3
designers, at the Islamic Art Museum Malaysia, The Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, The
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto all have
been designed with inspiration from historical Islamic art, and arguably provide some of
the context that Grabar sought.
In this paper I will explore historical references in the design and architecture of
these museum projects, and question whether they can be considered Islamic design or
Islamic architecture as explored by the participants at this conference. In a museum setting,
are these motifs received as contemporary design, or seen as ethnographic context?
IAMM Kuala Lumpur, 1998
The first museum project I would like to discuss is the Islamic Art Museum, Malaysia
(“IAMM”), which opened in 1998.2 This example undoubtedly has the most abundant
references to Islamic art in its design, as is outwardly stated by the curatorial team:
“In all expressions of Islamic art, there is an emphasis on the repetition of motifs.
In the IAMM, this is not only seen in the artefacts in its collections, but also in the
detailing of the museum building. Besides the columns and domes, the same
materials are used throughout the building, reinforcing the unity that is Islam, and
one of the main aspects of Islamic art.”3
Suggesting a unified visual expression between the museum structure and its artifacts, this
quote summarizes how references to Islamic art were used in the design of the building and
exhibition spaces. The designers have created a pastiche of styles inspired by Mamluk
2 Originally Prime Minister Mahathir offered for the government to pay for half, and for the private sector to pay for the rest. Syed Mohamad Al-Bukhary, the current director and instigator of the museum instead obtained full funding from the Albukhary Foundation, run by his brother, Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary. The government did provide the land next to the National Mosque. (Souren Melikian, “A Malaysian’s Tour de Force for Islamic Art, New York Times, 2002) The Akbukhary Foundation has also provided significant funding to the 2018 renovation of the British Museum galleries for Islamic art. (Ben East, The National, 2015) 3 Fong, Pheng K. Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur: Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, 2003, (p. 47)
C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 4
North Africa, Safavid Persia, Umayyad Spain, Mughal India and Timurid Central Asia, an
amalgamation which reflects the diversity of artifacts on display.
The museum's structure was originally conceptualized by Roberto Monsani, an
Italian architect known for his sleek designs of Salvatore Ferragamo's shops around the
world. Monsani's insistence on modern designs at the Islamic Art Museum clashed with
his client's desire for Islamic motifs and the project was completed by a local architectural
firm, Kumpulan Senireka.4 The combination has resulted in a modern building ornamented
with details referencing some of the most famous works of Islamic art and architecture,
creating an immersive experience for the visitor.
Figure 2: Islamic Arts Museum, Malaysia
This is visible immediately upon arrival, as the main entrance resembles a tiled
iwan of the Timurid or Safavid Period. Fabricated on site by craftsmen from Iran, this
entrance portal resembles a number of historical examples, and can be compared to an iwan
4 Lee, Yoolim “Kuala Lumpur’s Islamic Arts Museum Reaches Out to the World.” Bloomberg.com October 27, 2005 http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aOXZZRjIXWaI
C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 5
from the Registan (or Public Square) in Samarqand, each bearing a large calligraphic
inscription in colorful tile.
Figure 3: Left: Islamic Art Museum, Malaysia. Right: Tilya-Kori Madrasah, Registan, Samarqand, Uzbekistan (1646- 1660)
The white marble walls were chosen to recall the opulent monuments of Mughal
India, exemplified by the Taj Mahal (which also has a large calligraphic-covered iwan).
The museum’s name is repeated throughout the building, on glass, in marble and
wood, written in kufi banaie, or square kufic, a calligraphic style seen as early as the 15th
century Ulug Beg Madrasa also in Samarqand.
Figure 4: Kufi banaie on glass, metal, and wood in the IAMM
C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 6
In the lobby, references to the Maghreb, or the region of North Africa and Southern
Spain, can also be found, in the form of an interlocking star. This shape can be found in
other spaces throughout the building, including on the glass walls, doors, and the floor of
other museum spaces. It is also part of the museum’s logo, as well as a fountain on the
outside terrace.
Figure 5: Star-shape motif on the floor, and fountain at the IAMM
The second floor Rehal Terrace 5 has large granite water troughs, which are
reproductions of those at the Imam mosque of Isfahan, and were created by Iranian
craftsmen specifically for the museum.
5 Named for the rehal, or book stand, which holds a stone manuscript inscribed with poetry by the 13th century poet Sa’di
C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 7
Figure 6: Left, Rehal Terrace, IAMM. Right: Imam Mosque with water trough, Isfahan, Iran, 1611-29
The exterior is ornamented with further design references to Safavid Persia,
including four large turquoise domes on the roof, the main one inspired by the Lutfallah
mosque in Isfahan. The domes are completely covered in tile decoration, made up of
calligraphy, florals and arabesques.6
Figure 7: Left: IAMM, Right: Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque, Isfahan, Iran 1603-1619
The underside of these domes were crafted in stucco by artists from Uzbekistan.
Though more ornate, this inverted white dome is intended to evoke those of the Mamluk
era in Egypt, such as the mosque of Sultan Qaytbay.7
6 Also including small sprays of hibiscus, Malaysia’s national flower. 7 Islamic Art Museum Malaysia Vol. I, p. 40
C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 8
Figure 8: Left, IAMM. Right: Mosque of Sultan Qaytbay, Cairo, Egypt, completed 1474
All installations were designed in house, and are simple and restrained, allowing
visitors to make connections across geography and dynasty.
A large part of gallery space is reserved for Islamic arts created by majority local
ethnic groups, specifically Malays, Chinese and Indians. 8 According to the mission
statement:
“The museum aims to create a collection that is truly representative of the Islamic
world. Instead of concentrating on works from the heartlands of Persia and the
Middle East, IAMM also puts the emphasis on Asia. China and Southeast Asia
are especially well represented.”9
So while the institutional emphasis is on SE Asian art, the design and architecture frames
all exhibitions with references to canonical Islamic art. The visitor thereby is able to make
connections between local Islamic art, and parallel productions from the larger Islamic
world.
8 This is also present in temporary exhibitions. For instance, in a collaboration with the Museum of Cultural
Palace of Nationalities, Beijing and the Northwest Minorities University, Lanzhou, China, the 2001
exhibition of “Six Centuries of Islamic Art in China” highlighted the cultures of the Muslims in China. Or
“The Message and the Monsoon: Islamic Art of Southeast Asia” (2005), focusing on local Malaysian
Islamic arts. 9 From the museum website.
C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 9
Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, 2008
Ten years after the opening in Kuala Lumpur, the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha,
opened its doors. Like the IAMM, the MIA Doha borrows architectural vocabulary from
the canon of Islamic art history- forms and traditions that are not native to the immediate
region, but serve as representative of the field as a whole.
The intention for this adoption is best summarized by the museum’s first director,
Oliver Watson10, who has stated:
“The project was driven first and foremost by a belief that the people of Qatar,
both Qataris and non-Qataris do not know enough about and did not as it were
“own” as much as they could and should of the cultural heritage of the Islamic
world. An important initial goal is to encourage the recognition among the
Muslim populations of Qatar and beyond that this cultural heritage is by rights
theirs.” 11
10 Watson was director from 2008-2011 11 “A second goal is then to show both Muslims and non-Muslims what the heights of Islamic culture were,
and to illustrate these through objects of top quality. The audience is firstly the communities of Qatar, and
then the region, and then the world at large.” (Watson, in Islamic Art and the Museum: Approaches to Art and Archaeology of the Muslim World in the Twenty-First Century, p. 265)
C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 10
While none of the objects in the museum were made locally, the neo-Mamluk
structure and other design elements are a testimony to the cultural heritage that Qatar is
appropriating, presented with a contemporary twist.
For this project, Chinese-born architect I.M. Pei 12 wanted to create a modern
structure that “embodied the essence of Islamic art.”13- a very subjective and controversial
claim to pin down. Pei traveled extensively to view some of the Islamic world’s most
famous structures, and found what he felt to be the "purest expression of Islamic art" in
Cairo, in the center of the mosque of Ibn Tulun.14
“The small ablutions fountain is an almost cubist expression of geometric
progression…. This severe architecture comes to life in the sun, with its shadows
and shades of color. I had at last found what I came to consider to be the very
essence of Islamic architecture in the middle of the mosque of Ibn Tulun.”
With the inspiration of this ablutions fountain, Pei designed the blocky, geometric
shape of the museum, in which a dome transitions to various polygonal shapes, including
square and octagon.
12 “The design of the museum went through a long path. Aka Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) organized an international architectural competition in 1997. While getting contestants from all over the world, the jury selected eight projects for a second and final phase including signature architects like Richard Rogers, Zaha Hadid, Charles Correa and the most prominent Arab architect Rasem Badran. The last two; Correa and Badran were selected by the jury as finalists to conduct a final rival between the two of them. A tendency towards Badran’s project to be the one to build was rising especially from the client’s point of view. Without clear justification, the whole process of the competition came to a dramatic end by the client’s decision to pass the project to the Chinese- American signature architect I.M. Pei” (Alraouf, Ali A. “Islam, Culture, and Community: The Role of Museums Architecture and Urbanism, Museum of Islamic Art, Doha”) 13 Jodidio, Museum of Islamic Art: Doha, Qatar, 2008 (p. 44) 14 "These other sites lacked the “purity” offered by the mosque of Ibn Tulun, and were too wrought with mixed cultural influence." Jodidio, Museum of Islamic Art: Doha, Qatar 2008 (p. 44-45).
C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 11
Figure 9: Left: MIA Doha, Right: Mosque of Ahmad Ibn Tulun, Cairo, Egypt 884-889
Pei's design very effectively utilized the sun’s light and cast shadow to bring out
the designs of the building. 15 An awning outside the main entrance uses positive and
negative space to create the form of an interlocking star in the shadows.
Inside the central atrium, another large version of the star motif is present on the
floor, and is also the central part of a fountain in the café, as well as ceiling panels in the
elevator.
15 “If one could find the heart of Islamic architecture, might it not lie in the desert, severe and simple in its design, where sunlight brings forms to life?” (IM Pei, in Jodidio 46)
C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 12
Figure 10: Star motif on the floor, fountain, and elevator panels of the MIA Doha
The interior design also translates other recognizable architectural vocabulary into
modern forms- for example, the stainless steel dome in the center of the lobby resembles a
muqarnas vault.16
Figure 11: Left, MIA Doha, Right: Muqarnas at the Alhambra, Spain, Hall of the Abencerrajes, 14th century
And the monumental round chandelier that hangs below the dome is a nod to the
great circular lighting fixtures seen in Ottoman mosques, such as the Suleymaniye mosque
in Istanbul.
16 The dome captures light in facets, admitting shafts of sun that move across its surface, giving life and movement to the space below. (Jodidio 60)
C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 13
Figure 12: Left: MIA Doha, Right, Süleymaniye Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey 1558
Pei requested that the museum galleries be designed by his collaborator on the
Louvre pyramid project, the French firm Wilmotte & Associates. The references to Islamic
art which are so visible in Pei’s designs are not extended in the areas created by Wilmotte.
Instead, the interior design is dominated by sleek, modern forms with large panes of glass,
dramatic lighting, dark walls, and contrasts in surface textures and materials.17
Figure 13: Galleries at the MIA Doha
17 Jodidio, 86
C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 14
Pei’s abstract references to Islamic art, coupled with Wilmotte’s minimalist interior
designs, creates a very contemporary frame for historical works of art. A modern-day
Qatari citizen views their adopted cultural legacy through a rich lens of the finest
“Starchitectural” and interior design. While this may not provide historical context for the
artifacts, it does offer a very interesting portrait of how Qatar frames its adopted past- with
reverence, distance, and style. 18
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM 2011
Three years after the museum opened in Doha, the new galleries of the Department
for Islamic art were unveiled at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
The new installation sought to illustrate the diversity of Islamic art and its regional
variations, a movement away from the homogeneous presentation style which has
dominated most Islamic art displays worldwide. 19 This new methodology can be
summarized by the curatorial mantra associated with the reinstallation:
“Not one world, but many; not another world, but our own.”
In an effort to appeal to visitors in New York City, designers and curators sought to create
an enveloping sensory environment to frame the historical collection, a distinct departure
from the 1975 “white-cube” installation.
18 The creation of this museum does more than situate Doha in the history of Islamic art, it generates a
cultural history for the rising state of Qatar. “…visiting Qatar, it’s also hard to avoid the sense that the
country is intensely interested in writing a past for itself, even as the Qatari capital’s ultra-modern skyline
emerges seemingly out of the sand.” Eakin, New York Review of Books 19 “When the Met’s Islamic galleries first opened in 1975 they were presented as a cultural monolith, where nations and cultures were subsumed under one broad banner, as if Islam were another planet.” Robert Worth, New York Times Magazine
C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 15
As a first step in this makeover, the galleries formerly known as “Islamic art” were
rebranded as “Art of the Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and Later South Asia” to
emphasize the breadth of the region. 20
We attempt to convey diversity through varied colors, materials and details in the
exhibition design. 21 Stone in the floors was sourced from countries that are represented in
these galleries, providing context to the division of these works through design materials.22
The galleries were designed in-house by veteran exhibition designer Michael
Batista, in close collaboration with the curators. Unlike the new, standalone museums in
Doha and Kuala Lumpur, this project was confined to a preexisting structure, and the team
had to work with the original neoclassical proportions and design from 1913.23
20 “But the fact remains that the artworks and objects displayed in the new galleries evince more common
traits—formal, aesthetic, functional, and, yes, religious—than they do differences predicated on specific
locales or nations. Importantly, these common traits have a lot to do with Islam, not only as a religion with
its beliefs, rituals, and laws but also as an impulse for empire and as a culture with prescribed sets of
attitudes, behaviors, and even tastes and typologies, which go a long way in explaining the commonalities
in secular Islamic art as well as in religious art.”(Nasser Rabat “What’s In a Name…”) 21 “The scale, scope, and extent of color and context employed in the Metropolitan Museum’s 2011 reinstallation, however, mark a radical and definitive break with the white box principle in which the museum as its own context was ever apparent. While the return to a former historical practices and effects of installation is conducive to the aesthetic effects of the majority of the Islamic artworks on view, creating an integrated presentation – a continuity between objects and museum space- and a pleasurable ambiance and sensory experience……(David Roxburgh, The Art Bulletin p. 641) 22 Egyptian marble, Indian red sandstone, Spanish marble 23 Designed by McKim, Mead & White. The reconstruction was the work of Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo
and Associates, the museum’s longtime architects, who are responsible for its master plan.
C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 16
Details taken from the historical collection are used in distinct spaces to highlight
specific elements. For example, oversized motifs in the floor of the introductory gallery
isolate shapes from a pattern in a pair of 16th century Mughal jali screens set in the wall
nearby. The star shape also references tiles from southern Spain, on display in an adjoining
gallery.
Figure 14: Left, introductory gallery. Middle, Jali screen, 16th century India (1993.67.2), Right, Star-shaped tile, 15th century Spain (41.165.40)
Design elements such as these relate to specific areas of the galleries, and are not
included gratuitously, but to frame certain sections, and draw visitors’ attention to motifs
embedded in the artwork.
In the gallery beyond these arches, art from the early period of Islam is displayed,
and many objects in this space are ornamented with an aesthetic that harkens back to
Byzantine influences. For this reason, Corinthian columns serve as a transitional marker
into this space, which contains similar 8th century Abbasid capital from Raqqa as well as
C.A. Stewart CIADA 2015 17
an inlaid wooden panel from 8th century Egypt, which is ornamented with architectural
motifs.24
Figure 15: Gallery installation and Capital from late 8th century Raqqa, Syria (36.68.3)
In another instance, a pishtaq– shaped arch as a doorway serves as another
transition between spaces, and mimics the large 14th century mihrab at the end of the hall.
Figure 16: Gallery installation and Mihrab,…
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