The Gallery of Islamic Art at the Detroit Institute of Arts will reopen on Sunday, Feb. 28 in a new and impressive presentation. The new gallery will showcase selections of Islamic art from different periods and in a variety of media: manuscripts, calligraphy, pottery, sculpture, metalwork, glasswork, textile, carpets and other objects.

The Islamic collection at the DIA is an important cultural and historical source for everyone. Students from around Metropolitan Detroit schools, colleges, and universities visit the collection to learn about Islamic art. The collection is also an important cultural source for the large community of Arabs and Muslims in the area.

Curator Dr. Heather Ecker says the collection comprises several hundred works of art produced in the Islamic world. The geographical origins of these objects range from the Mediterranean region to the Middle East, from Central Asia to India. Collecting in this artistic field began in Detroit in the 1890s. Some of the most important masterpieces in the collection were acquired during the first half of the twentieth century. These works of art include an exceptional Timurid Qur’an, a splendid enameled bottle made in Syria in the Mamluk period, the largest surviving 17th-century Ottoman velvet summer carpet in the world, and an exquisite, all-silk animal carpet probably made for the Safavid Tahmasp in the 16th century. Recent acquisitions include an early Iznik blue and white charger from Ottoman Turkey, a 17th century Qur’an from the library of the Uzbek ruler Nadhr Muhammad Khan, a very large, early Ottoman mosque candlestick, and a 15th-century Timurid cut-tile panel in the shape of a star, as well as other important objects.
The re-installations of the DIA’s Islamic art collection in its new, permanent gallery on the museum’s ground floor will place it within a spacious, centrally-located home for the first time in over a century. Furthermore, the re-installation project has provided an opportunity to study the collection and to carry out both conservation treatments and scientific analysis.

In keeping with the visitor-centered approach adopted by the DIA for the re-installation of the entire collection, historical and artistic arguments that emerged from the study of the Islamic collection provided the basis for the gallery design. These ideas, expressed in labels and other interpretive devices, will help visitors engage with Islamic art. The major themes of the Islamic gallery include: The Silk Road; Masterpieces of Carpet Weaving; Art of the Great Empires: Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal; The Medieval Islamic World: Urban Settings and Goods; Art of the Mamluks; Mediterranean Trade; Spanish Lusterware 1250-1500; and Sacred Writings from the Islamic World.

The large carpet display case, designed especially for the new gallery, provides good views of these carpets, mostly at full length, while protecting them from excessive light and atmospheric elements. The DIA has exceptional carpets in its collections, ranging from carpets made for royal settings to those made in small towns and villages, to those made in urban workshops intended for export to Europe.

These works of art include a Timurid Qur’an, an enameled bottle made in Syria in the Mamluk period, the largest surviving 17th-century Ottoman velvet summer carpet in the world, and an all-silk animal carpet probably made for the Safavid Tahmasp in the 16th century.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Islamic World was divided geographically and politically into three major entities: the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires. All three mighty empires were ruled by dynasties that made competing claims for political legitimacy as well as religious leadership. The gallery showcases exquisite examples of artworks produced during this period and from the three distinct regions.
Of special interest in this new gallery is the remarkable display of ongoing rotation of sacred manuscripts not only of Islamic text but also Judaic and Christian. Arabic calligraphy – in the form of sacred writing from the Qur’an, ahadith and prayer books along with the Torah and the Gospels, will be on display. An illustrated manuscript on the rules of order of an Armenian monastery in Jerusalem will also be on display. Later on the schedule a book of the psalms of prophet David (Mazameer Dawood) will be displayed. On display will also be a Lebanese manuscript of Melkite Orthodox liturgy. The inclusion of Judaic and Christian religious text produced under Islamic reign is an important testament to the pluralistic and tolerant nature of the Islamic faith.

In addition a collection of calligraphic tools will be on display as well as a short video of American calligrapher Mohammed Zakariyya at work. The sacred writing gallery will facilitate students, researchers and even children in that they will be able to lean on a railing over low, glass cases (with provisions for those in wheelchairs) to closely examine rare manuscripts.

On display will also be Indian made Islamic swords produced in 17th to19th centuries. Among the Mughal objects is a carpet for emperor Akbar made of wool and cotton. From the Safavid period there will be ceramic pieces, a decorated palace door and from the Ottoman period a magnificent court carpet and Iznik ceramic bowl to name a few. Some other highlights of the new gallery are: a Qajari mosaic wall decorated with the Biblical/Qur’anic story of Yousif and Zulaykhah; the magnificent 13th century painted statue of a court official from Iran; and a masterpiece glass gilded bottle made in Syria or Egypt during the Mamluk period for the Rasulid Sultan of Yemen al-Malik al-Mu’ayyad Dawud.

The Islamic collection at the DIA is an important cultural and historical source for everyone. Students from around Metropolitan Detroit schools, colleges, and universities visit the collection to learn about Islamic art. The collection is also an important cultural source for the large community of Arabs and Muslims in the area.

There will be a special program on Saturday, February 20 at 6 p.m. including a reception, gallery preview, dinner, short speeches and a special recital by Simon Shaheen and Ensemble.

For further information and tickets, contact the curator of Islamic art and department head Dr. Heather Ecker at 313.833.1718 or visit www. dia.org.

Dr. Hashim Al-Tawil is professor of art history at Henry Ford Community College.