Wednesday 18 July 2007

Take Care of Each Other


Last week I visited the Art Gallery of NSW to see the Arts of Islam. It is an amazing collection owned by Iranian-born Professor Nasser David Khalili and beautifully presented by the Gallery. I was in awe of the age and beauty of the items, from Byzantine tiles to Mongol warriors' saddles, Woven rugs to emerald boxes and jewelled daggers. There were many illuminated manuscripts of the Qur'an from the early 7th century to the early 20th century. As the Director of the Gallery says "There has never been a greater need for the wealth and imagination of Islamic cultures and artistic heritage to be revealed." The exhibition has been well patronised; on the day I was there, people were also flocking to see the USS Kittyhawk, which could be seen clearly from the Art Gallery restaurant. Interesting juxtaposition?

3 comments:

Sally said...

I am REALLY looking forward to seeing this exhibition - having lived a while in Turkey, and being a tile/ceramic 9as well as tetiles) freak.

Sally said...

textiles that is.

Anonymous said...

Fascinating and beautiful.
I discovered how much I loved this stuff when I took an art history course in college.