At the Met, a New Vision for Islam in Hostile Times

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Robert Worth

NEW YORK - Over the past decade, many Americans have based their thoughts and feelings about Islam in large part on a single place: the blasted patch of ground where the World Trade Center once stood. But a rival space has slowly and silently taken shape over those same years, about six miles to the north. It is a vast, palacelike suite of rooms on the second floor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where some of the world’s most precious Islamic artifacts sit sequestered behind locked doors. There is far more at stake here than the overhaul of a permanent collection at the Met, itself a once-in-a-generation event. The museum’s directors are acutely aware that their collection will be unveiled at a time when Islam is a more inflammable subject than ever. That is no small part of what makes Haidar so nervous as she prepares for opening day. It is also one reason the galleries — closed since 2003 — spent so long in the dark. [link]

Comments

Tahlib said…
The Metropolitan Museum of Art's new Islamic Art galleries will make a difference in American understanding of the Islamic faith, and especially in this post 9-11 world of NYC. Politicians are banking on it, community leaders are backing on it, and the Islamic community of NYC is also banking on it. While art historians, especially non-Islamic art historians will debate whether Islamic Art is restricted to religious art, the placement of this visual arts story at the heart of the city's most important museum sends an strong religious message that all faiths are welcome, and that the stories of all faiths are welcome in NYC. Islamic art encompasses the visual arts produced from the 7th century forward by people (predominately Muslim) who lived in areas ruled by culturally Islamic people, just as Europe is filled with artworks produced in areas ruled by culturally Christian people. Noted for the use of calligraphy and arabesque decoration without depictions of human or spiritual forms, what is most critical is to note the high value these artisans paid to creating work that seeks to share the voice of God. Like Christian and Judaic religious artwork, aiding believers to hear the word of God is the main point of these creations. In understanding this similarity, Westerners will grow to understand what connects the Islamic community to other faiths, instead of what divides.