Proposed Islamic Art Museum in Italy Divides Venice
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
By Nick Squires
ITALY---For hundreds of years Venice was at the crossroads between east and west, alternately trading with and then fighting against the Ottoman Turks for control of the Adriatic and the Mediterranean seas. Centuries later, the lagoon city’s attitude toward Islam appears as undecided as ever, as evinced by reactions to a proposal to open a museum of Islamic art in a grand palazzo on the banks of the Grand Canal. Right-wing politicians say they plan to protest the museum. Others say it would broaden the cultural life of a city that is frequently reduced to a tourist postcard. [link]
By Nick Squires
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| Doha's "Hajj" exhibition in the Museum of Islamic art |
