BYU’s Museum of Art Announced the Upcoming Exhibition of Islamic Art

This exhibition is unique in its approach. It offers access to Islamic culture, providing ‘a view from within’ by project director, Tunisian born Dr. Sabiha Al Khemir. It is an introduction to the arts of Islamic culture, inspiring to both the general public and the specialist. The exhibition poses the question “What makes Islamic Art Islamic?”.

“Beauty is a universal concept. A unifying force and a source for hope for a better future,” said BYU College of Fine Arts and Humanities Dean Stephen Jones. The MOA is known for being the premier art museum in the Mountain West and the most attended university art museum in North America. The museum’s upcoming addition entitled ‘Beauty and Belief: Crossing Bridges with the Arts of Islamic Culture’ will feature art foreign to many in Utah.

Dr. Sabiha al Khemir is an expert in Islamic art and serves as project director of the new exhibit that will travel to art museums throughout the United States after its stay at BYU. She says she feels BYU is the perfect place to debut this exhibit. “And why BYU? Well, here is a community, a religious community, who actually sincerely embraced the project, who is willing to cross bridges,” said Khemir.

The exhibit aims at helping museum visitors understand and appreciate Islamic art. Museum officials also say they hope the art will help viewers value the diversity and richness of the Islamic culture. The project director says she hopes the new exhibit will help bridge the gap between Western and Islamic cultures. “The exhibition invites you to look closely to try to unravel the beauty of this material and to unravel the cultural messages that are within this material in the hope that sight leads to insight,” Khemir said.

Even though the exhibit won’t be here for about three more months, the museum is already making room for the exhibit.

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