by Rebecca Romani
September 30, 2024
Some museum shows start off as a slow burn, but then become so compelling, you feel you must see them again just to take in what is on display. The current show “Wonders of Creation: Art, Science, and Innovation in the Islamic World” at the Museum of Art in Balbo Park is all that and more.
Beautifully curated by Dr. Ladan Akbarnia, Curator of South Asian and Islamic Art, “Wonders” starts off sedately and then picks up heft and steam as it starts to move through the sections of magnificent treasures, many loaned by substantial collections around the world such as the highly respected al-Sabah Collection, Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah, Kuwait.
“The opportunity to showcase sixty highlights from this esteemed collection is a great honor, Akbarnia told Vanguard Culture via email.
Other works come from places such as the Islamic Arts Museum, Malaysia, “their first ever loan to the USA,” Akbarnia added.
According to Akbarnia, the San Diego Museum of Art (SDMA) show is the first major exhibition of Islamic art in San Diego to come from collections within the Islamic world today, “and I think that is a really strong and positive message.”
As Akbarnia explained, the show is based on the 13th century text, The Wonders of Creation and the Rarities of Existence by Zakariya Qazwini, a Persian Islamic jurist and cosmographer whose wide reading of classic texts and intense curiosity about the world around him led him to write an astonishingly thorough book about what was known on earth, of the heavens, and of the occasional fantastical beast.
The exhibit spins off of the PST (Pacific Standard Time) program: “Art and Science Collide,” a Getty Initiative that looks at cosmologies, “indigenous sci-fi, environmental justice, and artificial intelligence,” through the intersection of art and science, both past and present.
Over 300 objects fill the space with a dizzying array of styles, materials, and techniques. While most pieces come from what is traditionally considered the Muslim world today, some originate in the expanded Muslim world of the Middle Ages and Renaissance such as Al Andalus in Spain and the Mughal Courts of India and later, in places like Malaysia.
The show “presents a unique opportunity to see works of art and objects that span from the 8th century through today and showcases how art and science can coexist. Many of the works on view in this exhibition have never before traveled to the US and many rarely travel at all,” Akbarnia told Vanguard Culture.
In addition, Akbarnia has included commissioned contemporary works by various MENA-origin/diaspora artists because she “really wanted to showcase Islamic crafts as a living tradition in Wonders.
“Craftspeople working in different Islamic traditions are not commonly considered contemporary artists, and I wanted to include their work and these traditions within the same conversation as contemporary art.”
The guiding text for the organization of the show is Qazwini’s book which lays out his cosmology in four parts, said Akbarnia.
In Pursuit of Wonder” provides the context for the origin of the text and its author and reveals Qazwini’s cosmography through illustrated copies of the text.
“Part 2 is therefore dedicated to the celestial realm, within an Islamic perspective, recognizing God at the top, and the disciplines of astronomy and astrology are explored through the works on view. Part 3 takes the viewer to the terrestrial realm, where natural history, mineralogy, alchemy, and other scientific disciplines are explored through the mineral, plant, and animal kingdoms.”
In Part 4, Qazwini discusses human diversity, customs, and crafts, through geometry, architectural elements, and the addition of contemporary art.
Qazwini’s text is not so much the product of a collision between art, science, and the Muslim world as an act of singular devotion. Qazwini is, in fact, following one of the early practices in Islam, pursuit of knowledge of and wonder at as well as knowledge and enlightenment- which in turn can lead to the thirst to know more about what he calls the “wonders of the world.” and a way of knowing God through his creations, including Man.
In that sense, the SDMA’s astonishing presentation of 13 centuries of Islamic art produced across multiple continents, is Qazwini’s text writ large.
The show starts off with a large map of the Muslim world with major centers of learning and culture such as Fez in Morocco, Damascus in Syria, and Baghdad in Iraq, pointing the way to what is to come.
The show then moves through Qazwini’s cosmology. Qazwini’s book was so popular and influential through its writing and design in his time that numerous copies and translations were made. The first part of the exhibit boasts several beautifully illustrated and illuminated copies.
The exhibit then continues onto the heavens through illustrations of the constellations and fabulous astrolabes which testify to the Islamic belief that the heavens with their celestial bodies and angels are a symbol of divine perfection. The astrolabes serve as star charts and models of heavenly bodies. Exquisitely engraved, the astrolabes are also reminders that beauty can be found in the most practical of instruments.
Akbarnia has thoughtfully commissioned several Astrolabes by Taha Yasin Arslan, Ph.D., a recognized Turkish expert of Islamic Astronomical instruments, that visitors are encouraged to touch and move.
As one proceeds through the exhibit, one begins to move through Qazwini’s view of the world under heaven, imperfect, prone to great beauty, and great confusion.
In fact, Qazwini is deeply interested in the real and fantastical that inhabit the lands coming under the sway of Islam during his lifetime. Again, beautifully illustrated manuscripts with brilliant colors reveal tigers, elephants, monkeys and even djinn or devils, as well as fantastical angels.
The illustrated manuscripts that dot the exhibit come mostly from the Museum of Art’s own extensive collection of Mughal (Muslim era)/Hindu works, the Edward Binney, 3rd collection, donated by Binney, heir to the Crayola fortune.
Akbarnia calls the manuscripts “One of the finest and most comprehensive collections of South Asian paintings outside of India.”
Saturated with brilliant color, the manuscripts are often vividly and finely executed. It is a rare pleasure to see them, nestled in context within the show. The last time these antique fragile manuscripts were displayed in any great number was in 2020-21, for the museum’s “The Elephant in the Room.”
At this point in the manuscript, Qazwini is also starting to marvel at the vagaries of human life, the alchemy of gold production, minerals and how human ingenuity has adapted them to ornamentation and daily life.
The exhibit features stunning pieces of both traditional jewelry (fibula from North Africa) and deeply worked gold collars encrusted with gems and crystals sparkle in cases. Human ingenuity adapts natural wonders into goblets, enameled vases, and other objects of daily life which serve both a practical purpose and a reminder that the hand of God is even on the humblest of forms.
A wonderful small video presentation, embedded near the astrolabe, features a demonstration of a longstanding traditional craft, traditional joinery (the art of joining wood pieces to make larger objects), used for centuries in counties like Syria and Egypt, known for their excellent craftsmanship and marquetry. An example of joinery, a panel made by Hassan Abou Zeid, a master craftsman from the Egyptian Heritage Rescue Foundation, is also available.
Akbarnia says of this section, “Crafts people working in different Islamic traditions are not commonly considered contemporary artists, and I wanted to include their work and these traditions within the same conversation as contemporary art.”
The exhibit then outdoes itself by making it clear that Islamic art is indeed a living breathing thing.
Each contemporary artist Akbarnia has chosen draws upon many of the visual designs and production methods seen in earlier parts of the exhibit, placing their own spin, tempered by the times in which these modern artists live.
Among the featured artists, Faig Ahmed, originally from Azerbaijan, takes older traditional carpets and their designs to create altered carpet that often look like the design is heavily pixelated or is running, like melting wax. By taking the coded colors and symbolism and altering them through digital and physical techniques, Ahmed is turning the traditional carpets that comment on the world of their maker into commentary and observation of the highly altered world around him.
For Timo Nasseri, a German Iranian artist, the Sufi principle of self-reflection is made manifest in a re-creation of his stunning and a bit overwhelming installation, Florenz-Baghdad, a room lined with 4500 slightly tilted mirrors arranged in a repeating geometric pattern, typical of the traditional Islamic use of repeating patterns. A tour de force of implications, the installation’s title references two great places of learning and creation, Florence and Baghdad, and recalls the uneasy truce between Western and Islamic art and culture as knowledge from both the fallen Islamic kingdoms in Andalusia and the prodigious creativity in Baghdad, made their way to the Medici court in Florence.
Where glass reflects, cut paper flows. Iranian American Pantea Karimi’s astonishing cut paper hanging installation, “Healing Garden.” invokes another major aspect of Islamic architecture, the garden. An important facet of palaces and simple homes alike, the garden is often seen as an expression of paradise, a place to relax and reflect, often to the sound of water in fountains and the breeze moving through carefully manicured trees and flowering plants.
Like Nasseri’s work, Karimi’s installation evokes an intersection between the West and the Islamic world- inspired by the gardens of Rome and ancient Persia, Islamic gardens haunt Western Orientalist paintings and the layouts of carefully curated and trimmed classic gardens in the West with their repeating boxed hedges and topiary.
With such a rich and varied collection of objects, does Dr. Akbarnia have a favorite piece?
“It’s difficult to choose a favorite! I feel like every single work “earned” its place in this exhibition and asking me to choose feels almost like asking me to choose which child is my favorite—so I cannot!” said Akbarnia.
Although the exhibit covers an incredible amount of ground, Akbarnia hopes that visitors will be able to see the richness of materials, ideas, languages, artistic techniques, and crafts practices that come from the Islamic world.
Akbarnia added, “Regardless of our guest’s beliefs or where they come from, if they take a moment to examine just a few of the objects in this exhibition, they will feel that sense of wonder and, when they leave the exhibition, they might use that approach to see the beauty in things around them in a world that seems quite chaotic right now.”
“Wonders” continues at the Museum of Art through Jan 5, 2025, and then continues on to the McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College February through June 2025.
_____________________________________________________________________________
How to see it:
In general, this is a very visually intense exhibit with a lot to see, so an intentional walk through with pauses is recommended.
Museum members have access to the exhibit but there is an additional $5 charge. Non-museum members pay the non-member fee.
The exhibit is also included in the local resident free Tuesdays, on the 2nd Tuesday of every month as well as the 2nd Thursday of the month.
Members are also invited to member only events.
However, the general public is cordially invited to a fun collection of surround events including:
Upcoming events:
Mehregan Fall Fete: Oct. 5.
Celebrate the Iranian Fall festival with a concert and tour of the current exhibit Wonders of Creation: Art, Science, and Innovation in the Islamic World.
The fete is a collaboration between the Persian Cultural Center and the Museum of Art.
Wonders of Creation Symposium: Nov. 1
The Symposium includes distinguished world renown specialists on Islamic visual culture as well as Pantea Karimi, multidisciplinary artist, researcher, and educator- whose commissioned work is also in the exhibit.
This is a ticketed event, open to members and the public.
Friend’s Lecture: Nov. 1
Dr. Ladan Akbarnia, Curator of South Asian and Islamic Art at The San Diego Museum of Art and curator of Wonders of Creation and Ala Ebtekar, creator of a work of art commissioned for the exhibition, A Thousand Years of Light (2024).
This is a ticketed event, open to members and the public.
On the Steps!: Nov. 23
Free admission.
Community festival celebrating art and science from the Islamic world, featuring art-making activities, artist booths, and much more, including local group: Middle Earth Ensemble and Egyptian rapper, Felukah.
Community Art Workshops:
Make a Birthdate Starmaker! (10/19, 11/14, 12 /12) Inspired by the Astrolabes in the show, this workshop shows participants how to make a starmaker with their birthdate and the corresponding constellation. All materials provided. An all-ages workshop.
Bookmaking and binding- make your own codex! – (multiple dates through Dec.
Explore Islamic book binding techniques and the practices of codex creation by engaging in folding, wrapping, decorating, and binding a book.
Because registration is limited, R.S.V.P. to reserve your spot: https://sdma.ticketapp.org/portal/product/78/events
Books and Art: Persian Calligraphy with Master Kaboli: 10/19,
learn how to use a reed pen to create Persian calligraphy from a master calligrapher.
Because registration is limited, R.S.V.P. to reserve your spot HERE.
