Hermitage Days-2011
Architecture in Islamic Arts. Treasures of the Aga Khan Museum
9 December 2011 - 26 February 2012
Halls of Byzantine and Middle East (NN 381-385)

On 9 December 2011, an exhibit entitled Architecture in Islamic Arts. Treasures of the Aga Khan Museum opened in the Halls of Byzantine and the Near East of the State Hermitage Museum as part of Hermitage Days.

More than 100 works of art from the collection of the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, Canada, which is expected to open in 2013, are on display at this exhibit. The Aga Khan Museum is a new academic institution, tasked with the collection, study and exposition of the art of Islamic civilization. It enthusiastically shares works of art with other museums in Europe and Asia. The exhibit entitled Architecture in Islamic Arts. Treasures of the Aga Khan Museum will follow a unique route, from the Peter the Great’s European capital to the multicultural center of Southeast Asia: the Stage Hermitage Museum, the Museum of Islamic Arts Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur and the Museum of Islamic Civilization in Singapore.

Islamic architecture dominated at huge territory, that stretches across 40 contemporary countries, where the majority of the population is made up of Muslims. The epoch of the rise of Islamic culture was marked by a flowering of art and architecture; the buildings built in the great Islamic empires are among civilization’s greatest monuments. This exhibit, combining articles and pieces of buildings in their depictions in manuscripts help us to understand how these buildings express the unity of architecture and other forms of art.

Representative pieces from several categories - particularly architectural pieces: decorations and many diverse tiles, structural elements of famous muqarnas, wooden poles, console tables and moulding, column capitals, carved decorations and inlaid doors are presented at this exhibit. Many other architectural elements are presented in the form of miniature buildings, made in various styles and traditions: the patterns on domes and walls, drawing of bridges and sidewalks, elements of rugs and brocaded curtains. A special section of the exhibit is dedicated to the interaction between architecture and the decorative manuscript pages.

Thanks to the diversity of the works on display, it is possible to get an idea about what the original intended purpose of these architectural elements and fragments was. Many articles connected with Islamic architecture, made of completely different materials: bronze, cloth, ceramics, wood - and brought from almost every region of the Islamic world come together to enhance the architectural concept of the exhibit. The viewer will be able to become closely familiar with the topography of the holy sites of Mecca and Medina, as well places intended to be used for leisure purposes by monarchs, and their court.

The curator of the exhibit - Anton Dmitrievich Pritula, director of the sector on Byzantium and the Near East within the Oriental Department of the State Hermitage, holder of a Ph.D. in philology.

A scholarly catalogue has been prepared for this exhibit by the publishing house of the State Hermitage Museum, which included an article by the Director of the State Hermitage Museum, M.B. Piotrovsky.