ALKHOBAR, 25 July 2006 — Last week the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (V&A) opened its new Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art. I won’t be able to visit the gallery in person until at least September but thanks to my “Wide Window on the World,” I was able to see much of the gallery with just a few mouse clicks — and you can too!
Just go to http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/asia/islamic_gall/index.html and experience the beauty of Islamic art for yourself. One of the first digital images at the website is a close-up view of the centerpiece of the collection — the Ardabil carpet, the world’s oldest dated carpet, and one of the largest, most beautiful and historically important carpets in the world. Other interesting images at the website show how the three-year renovation of the gallery has created a state-of-the-art environment for the display of Islamic art of significant historical importance.
The Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art houses 400 treasures from the V&A’s collection of more than 10,000 Islamic objects made in the Middle East, one of the most extensive and renowned in the world. The new gallery is a gift to the world from Saudi Arabia’s Jameel family. It has been dedicated to the memory of Abdul Latif Jameel, the late founder of the Abdul Latif Jameel Group, and his wife Nafisa, by Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel, their son.
The V&A website (www.vam.ac.uk) offers visitors the chance to explore Islamic art in many ways. A section on “Style in Islamic Art” advises that “Many different styles developed during the long history of Islamic art. Select a period below to explore some of them.” Visitors click on one of four different periods of history from 750 to 1900 to learn about the Islamic art that was created in those years. The history of the world of Islamic Art is explained by an “Interactive Historical Map” function at the website.
Next, read about the Islamic art exhibition that toured the world. “Palace and Mosque: Islamic Treasures of the Middle East from the V&A,” was a V&A exhibition funded by the Jameel family that was designed to increase awareness of Islamic art. The Palace and Mosque exhibition was seen by over 285,000 people in Washington and Texas in the US, in Tokyo, Japan and in Sheffield, England. Click on thumbnail images of the works of art that were in the exhibition to bring up more detailed pictures and more information.
The V&A understands how important its Islamic art collection is to the world and is trying to make as many of the artifacts as possible available to a global audience. With that in mind, the V&A is one of 17 museums across Europe and the Mediterranean participating in a visionary project called Discover Islamic Art. Developed by the Brussels-based consortium Museum With No Frontiers, this groundbreaking online “virtual museum” brings together over 1,200 works of Islamic art and architecture into a single database. A link at the V&A website takes the visitor directly to the Discover Islamic Art website where high-resolution images are accessible at the click of a mouse, enabling the viewer to discover objects in greater detail than is often possible in a museum setting.
After seeing so many works of art online, there is a natural tendency to want to surround yourself with beauty in a more tangible way. In the Middle East, colorful rugs are one of the most traditional forms of art. Rugs can be expensive though, so learn all you can before heading out to the carpet souk. At the V&A website is a presentation on Oriental Carpets. In this series of short videos, you can discover a lot about oriental carpets in the company of Jennifer Wearden, the textile curator from the V&A’s department of furniture, textiles and fashion. Starting with the basics of carpet structure — the warp, the weft and the knotted pile — you’ll find out all sorts of things, including:
• How to tell the top of a carpet from the bottom by stroking it like a cat;
• Three ways to stop the edge of a carpet from fraying;
• The difference between symmetrical and asymmetrical knots;
• How to calculate the fineness of a carpet by counting the number of knots per square inch;
• How to tell when the weaver has made a mistake;
• The way in which different batches of wool dye can affect the look of a carpet; and
• Why iron-based dyes can make the wool rot and fall out.
After all this learning, don’t leave the website without having some fun. A “Jigsaw Puzzle” game lets players choose from one of four Islamic art motifs. The puzzle can be created with three levels of difficulty. The “Hard” puzzles have 100 virtual pieces! A clock ticks out your time to completion. Complete the jigsaw and submit your score to the leader board to see your position against other times. The one with the fastest time in each category of difficulty takes the No. 1 spot. Can you make it into the Top 10? Use the “send” option to send friends an e-mail inviting them to play the jigsaw. Can they beat your time?
If you won’t be able to visit the Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art in person, a book on the gallery itself will be published by V&A Publications in October 2006. “The Making of the Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art,” edited by Tim Stanley and Rosemary Crill (£35 Hardback) will show how curators, designers, conservators and specialists in education worked together to achieve the high standards seen in the new display. The V&A has also published “Palace and Mosque: Islamic Art from the Middle East,” by Tim Stanley (£19.95 Paperback) to accompany the new gallery. Indulge yourself and take a peek at the books, media and homeware that the V&A online shop is offering to celebrate the opening of this fantastic gallery.
