New York's Met New Islamic Art Wing Seeks to Overturn Prejudice With Beauty

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By Nikola Krastev, Charles Recknagel

The New York exhibition includes art from the Arab lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and South Asia.

NEW YORK - Now, the Met -- as the museum is affectionately known -- hopes to give people a deeper, objective understanding of Muslim culture and history. "There is great potential for changing people's opinions and the reason is that we provide a lot of information that is historical, so people have an opportunity to come to a neutral space where there is no political point of view," says Sheila Canby, the curator in charge of the Museum's Department of Islamic Art. "We are trying simply to give context to the objects that we have on view." Nonetheless, Canby maintains that information is only part of the process. According to her, being exposed to the creative power and beauty of another world is an experience that essentially overturns prejudices and stereotypes. [link]