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In an extensive renovation, the galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Fine Art were expanded, reconceptualized and renamed and are now organized in an entirely new way, reflecting a desire to offer viewers the opportunity to engage with the art in a manner that is more intellectually and aesthetically stimulating. The new layout also reflects more accurately the diversity, evolution, and relationships within Islamic art and between Islamic art and other art traditions.
The renovations also highlight changing notions of how museums can best organize their work—moving away from traditional linear, chronological approaches which are neatly defined by specific geographies and eras, to more complex and fluid representations which allow for the examination of specific themes across boundaries of geography and time, and which highlight continuities and discontinuities, common traits and divergent ideas.
Thomas P. Campbell, director of the museum, comments on the significance of the changes that have taken place during the renovations. “In sequence, the 15 new galleries trace the course of Islamic civilization over a span of 13 centuries, from the Middle East to North Africa, Europe, and Central and South Asia. This new geographic orientation signals a revised perspective on this important collection, recognizing that the monumentality of Islam did not create a single, monolithic artistic expression, but instead connected a vast geographic expanse through centuries of change and cultural influence. The public will find galleries filled with magnificent works of art that evoke the plurality of the Islamic tradition.”
The experience is now richer than ever, because the Met can display more of its collection, which ranges from Persian carpets to mosaics, wood carvings, calligraphy, silver jewelry, and pottery. Although the collection reflects the artwork of Islamic lands, it has been renamed ‘Galleries for the Art of the Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia and Later South Asia.’ This reflects, in part, a desire to provide greater geographic specificity. It is also an acknowledgment that while most of the art is influenced by Islam, it is not exclusively so. A small Hebrew Bible from the 15th century, for example, is on display in the Spain and North Africa gallery and its illustrations have clearly been influenced by Islamic renderings of the Koran. The South Asian gallery has an extensive collection of Mughal Muslim art, but also includes images of Hindu gods. These galleries then showcase synergies and relationships, how cultures and religions influence and cross-pollinate, teach and exchange, appropriate and adjust.
Highlights include a 14th century Iranian prayer niche and extraordinary beautiful ‘Damascus Room’—a reception room from an 18th century Syrian home replete with fine filigree woodwork. Not all of the work is historic, however. The Met contracted Moroccan artisans to build a Moroccan courtyard for the galleries, tangibly demonstrating the continuities between historic architectural and artistic traditions and contemporary Arab design.
To celebrate the opening of the new galleries, the Met held a number of concerts featuring music from Morocco’s Gnaoua and Pakistan’s Qawwali traditions and has developed a rich program of activities for the next six months. In February, the curators held a lecture series discussing their favorite aspects of the museum’s collections. In March and April an interfaith program will be hosted by the galleries featuring Muslim, Jewish, and Christian leaders and will focus on spiritual rituals, imagery, and practice in historic and contemporary contexts.
A symposium in April will be held discussing research carried out on the collection while the galleries were in renovation and will provide commentary on the collection from the perspectives of art history, social history, literary history, conservation, and archeology. Finally, in April and June there will be concerts of music from Turkey and the Mediterranean, respectively.
