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| Palace and Mosque: Islamic treasures of the Middle East from the V&A was created from the Islamic collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and has been on a world tour to America and Japan during the refurbishment of the V&A's Jameel Gallery of Middle Eastern Islamic Art. Sheffield is unique in that the Millennium Gallery is hosting the only UK showing of this exhibition (14 January 17 April 2006) before it returns to the V&A. |
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| Palace and Mosque is organized into four main sections. Religious Art explores works made for places of worship, both Muslim and Christian. Art and Power features secular works of art, often depicting human and animal figures, made for royal palaces and courtly residences. The impact of Islamic rulers on artistic style is considered in Ottoman Patronage. Finally, the intense interaction between the Middle East, China, and Europe is the subject of Artistic Exchange. |
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Context for the Exhibition
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| In 2004, the V&A received a substantial donation of £5.4 million from Hartwell plc, part of the Abdul Latif Jameel Group, to transform one of its historic galleries into a fitting home for the Museums superb collection of Islamic art from the Middle East and finance a touring exhibition of the V&As Islamic treasures, including Palace and Mosque in Sheffield. |
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| The new gallery will be named The Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art dedicated to the memory of Mr Abdul Latif Jameel, the late founder of the Abdul Latif Jameel Group, and his wife Nafisa. The Jameel Gallery will house treasures from the V&As collection of more than 10,000 Islamic objects from the Middle East and will open in July 2006. |
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Pillars of Light
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Palace and Mosque will mark the launch of Pillars of Light, a regional programme exploring Muslim cultures. Throughout 2006, Pillars of Light will be an unprecedented creative programme across Yorkshire, exploring different aspects of Muslim cultures and heritage. Its distinctive central theme is cultural confluence - the manner in which Muslim cultures, historical and contemporary, have influenced the artistic practices of other cultures and vice versa.
Pillars of Light includes visual arts, literature, theatre, music and film. For further details, please see www.yorkshirevisitor.com/illuminate-festival
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Through a Glass Brightly
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Running alongside Palace and Mosque, two contemporary artists have been commissioned by Museums Sheffield to work together in creating a response to the exhibition, funded by the Arts Council. The installation is the result of this collaboration between artists Farhad Ahrarnia, a mixed-media artist and Kalim Afzal, a glassmaker.
The artists were commissioned to provide a contemporary viewpoint to objects and themes in the Palace and Mosque exhibition. Their focus has been the crafting and function of glass. Glass was originally handcrafted in the Middle Eastern regions of Egypt, Syria and Mesopotamia. The invention of glass blowing around 2000 years ago, is credited to Syrian craftsmen: their revolutionary techniques are still used today. The practical and aesthetic qualities of glass were well understood in the early Muslim world. The Middle East has imbued glass with mystic qualities symbolising both scientific clarity and artistic refinement. Through a Glass Brightly explores this relationship between science and art.
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Through a Glass Brightly (detail)
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Strategic Commissioning
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Image & Identity is a national/regional partnership project which aims to engage young people with museum and gallery collections and to stimulate creativity through image-making in a range of media. Participants are encouraged to explore cultural differences as well as their own identities, develop analytical and critical skills and create artwork. The V&A leads the partnership and the project is now in its third year.
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Young people from schools and NCH centres in Sheffield, Barnsley and Doncaster explored the theme of pattern and used the Ruskin Collection as inspiration. They looked at the patterns that surround them in nature, architecture, fashion and their everyday lives and devised and developed their own patterns, logos and self-portraits. Artists Jenny Gilks and Jane Leigh worked with Key Stage 3 students from 8 schools in 4 linked-schools partnerships and with young people aged from 5 to 16 years old from 4 NCH centres on the project. Participants have worked in a range of media including clay, fabric, acrylics and photography.
The wallpaper banners in the Avenue show further examples of work created on Image & Identity. There will also be an exhibition of work by young people from across the project at the V&A from 15 March 12 April 2006.
Participants on Image & Identity were: Abbeydale Grange School, Balby Family Centre, Barnsley Family Link, Chaucer School, Ecclesfield School, Firth Park Community Arts College, Fir Vale School, Myrtle Springs School, Notre Dame Catholic High School, Waltheof School and Woodlands Family Centre.
Funding and support from Renaissance Yorkshire has also been given to the work with artists in schools.
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