Shaikh Sultan opens Sharjah exhibition on Islamic culture

Sharjah: His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, inaugurated the exhibition titled ‘Early Capitals of Islamic Culture - The Artistic Legacy of Umayyad Damascus and Abbasid Baghdad (650–950)’ at the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilisation (SMIC) yesterday.

The exhibition presents over 100 archaeological finds, Islamic calligraphy, decorative arts, and exquisite artefacts from the first centuries of Umayyad and Abbasid rule, centred on their capitals Damascus and Baghdad. The artefacts are part of the collections displayed at the Berlin Museum of Islamic Art, the first and oldest museum of Islamic art outside the Islamic world.

Open from today to January 17, 2015, the exhibition invites visitors to immerse themselves in the ancient urban legacy of these two famed cities and explore archaeological items from Umayyad desert castles and the Abbasid capitals outside Baghdad, Samarra.

The artefacts are placed in chronological and thematic order as a part of a wider story that gives a historic overview of urban, architectural and artistic developments.

“Everyone talks about politics and war, and we talk about culture,” said Dr Stefan Weber, Director of the Berlin Museum of Islamic Art and curator of the exhibition, at a press conference held at the event’s opening.

He highlighted the importance of developing relations between museums inside and outside the Arab world in order to better understand the history of Islamic art and civilisations.The displayed artefacts, which were shipped from Berlin to Sharjah in two days, highlight the transfer of knowledge and artistic traditions between cultures and civilisations, and reveal the dynamic complexity of cross-cultural relations between the ruling elites and the rest of the world during the earliest evolution and expansion of Islamic culture.

“This exhibition — together with a series of professional development workshops this year — is a direct result of our comprehensive Memorandum of Understanding with Sharjah Museums Department and the German Goethe Institute signed in 2013,” said Dr Weber at the opening.

The event is organised by the Sharjah Museums Department) (SMD) and the Berlin State Museums as part of a series of events in celebration of Sharjah as 2014 Capital of Islamic Culture.