The Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. together house more than 30,000 treasures of Asian art and artifacts and form the National Museum of Asian Art. Through Oct. 17, 2004 the Sackler Gallery is hosting the exhibition “Caliphs and Kings: The Art and Influence of Islamic Spain.” This exhibition brings to Washington for the first time approximately ninety objects from the collection of the Hispanic Society of America in New York. Emphasizing themes of longevity, continuity and transmission in the Islamic decorative arts and sciences of medieval Spain, the exhibition presents works dating from the time of the Arab conquest of the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th century through the 16th century.
Those unable to travel to Washington to view the exhibition in person may experience the flavor of the art online through a digital gallery at www.asia.si.edu. It is not only the Sackler’s exhibition that may be viewed online. More than one thousand objects from the National Museum of Asian Art’s permanent collection are available online and more are added each month. In fact, some of the objects presented in the online gallery are not currently on display at the museum.
Parents and teachers should definitely download the PDF document on “Art in the Islamic World” from www.asia.si.edu. The Arts of Islam are discussed in this 92-page guide, which includes text, illustrations and lesson plans. For those interested in furthering art education in schools, the National Museum of Asian Art has developed curriculum packets created by classroom educators working with museum curators. These curriculum packets provide multidisciplinary activities to capture the interest of students and inspire their creativity. Ready-to-use color reproductions, lesson plans and activities for teaching Asian art and culture to students of all ages are included. For more information, contact [email protected].