Islamic Art from the State Hermitage Museum
9 January 2002 - 14 April, 2002

The exhibition includes 145 artifacts created in various parts of the Islamic world, from Spain to Northern India, from the 7th to the 19th centuries. An exhibition of such a rich variety of works of art from various places and epochs has never before been seen in Kazan. It is to show the common features of the culture based on the Qur'an and Islamic traditions throughout the entire Moslem world, to reveal the beauty and specific language of Islamic art and demonstrate how it expresses the world outlook of Islam. While the exhibits show the kinship of Islamic art with the traditional European artistic systems, they also represent its specific characteristics which have a charm of their own.
The exhibition was prepared by the State Hermitage Museum jointly with the Kazan Center of National Culture. It includes artifacts from the Hermitage which possesses one of the world's largest collections of art of peoples of the Islamic East. These are first of all works of toreutics. They give an idea of the world's most important collection of Islamic bronze. Ceramic artifacts represent the rich collection of ceramics, especially Iranian. Works of jewelers of Mogul India are part of the world's best collection. The exhibition also shows paintings, carpets and fabrics.
The strict monotheistic spirit of Islam prohibited depicting living beings in situations when they could become "idols " and detract man from worshipping the one and only God. This prohibition brought about an extraordinary efflorescence of abstract art. Wonderful ornamentation in the form of inscriptions, vines, arabesques and complicated geometrical figures not just pleased the eye but also expressed the philosophical principles of infinity and variety. Theological concepts and mystical moods of Sufis were rendered into the language of art. Art embodied another important idea of Islam, the promise of paradise that awaits the believer. Islam, while preaching obedience to God, puts emphasis on the paradisal joys awaiting the obedient rather than the infernal horrors in store for the disobedient.
The exhibition Islamic Art from the State Hermitage Museum is intended for the general audience; it is based on cultural ideas and artistic images which transcend time.
The same day the exhibition Ancient and Modern Islamic Art from Museums of the Republic of Tatarstan was opened alongside the one from the Hermitage. It includes 145 works prepared by the Kazan Center of National Culture jointly with the State Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Tatarstan and the National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan. Exhibits were also loaned by the History Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan and the Bulgar Museum of History and Architecture.
The catalogue Art of Islam has been prepared for the exhibition Islamic Art from the State Hermitage Museum, edited by Dr. Mikhail B. Piotrovsky, Director of the Hermitage. The same publication includes a catalogue of the exhibition Ancient and Modern Islamic Art from Museums of the Republic of Tatarstan. The section on Islam in the Volga Region was written by R.S. Khakimov, Director of the History Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan, and R.G. Shageyeva, prominent Tatar art critic.

Dervish bowl (kashkul)
Iran, early 18th century.
Larger view

Fragment of a carpet
Iran, first half of the 14th century
Larger view

Lamp
Syria or Egypt,
15th century
Larger view

A Convivial Party
Iran,
anno hegirae 1020/
anno Domini 1612
Larger view

Aquamanile in the form of an eagle
Iraq (?),
anno hegirae 180/
anno Domini 796-797
Larger view