Henry S. Kim, the director and CEO of Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, is an ancient history scholar and classical archaeologist by training. Kim joined the Museum from the University of Oxford, where he taught, curated collections and managed capital projects at the Ashmolean Museum from 1994 to 2012. Educated at Harvard and Oxford, he served as curator of Greek coins and university lecturer in Greek numismatics at the university.
From 2004 to 2011 he was the project director for the Ashmolean Redevelopment Project, a £70 million redevelopment and transformation of the museum. He then became director of the University Engagement Programme, a three-year project sponsored by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation aimed at expanding the use of the museum’s collections in teaching across the university.
The Aga Khan Museum in Toronto has been established and developed by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC).
The museum’s mission is to foster a greater understanding and appreciation of the contribution that Muslim civilisations have made to world heritage. Its stunning building, designed by Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki, has two floors of exhibition space, a 350-seat auditorium, classrooms and public areas that accommodate innovative programming for all ages and interests.
Kim spoke to Weekend Review about the museum and its plans. Excerpts:
What activities has the museum held lately?
We have a changing set of exhibitions. Our school programmes have begun, we’ve had conferences at the museum. The museum has truly had an amazing range of activities.
It is very important for museums to organise exhibitions, to give a people a sense of the activities it has.
That’s right. Through our exhibitions we want to engage the public so that there is a reason [for them] to come back to the museum. If you have the same things over and over again, they won’t come back. But they would, if you have exhibitions that are good variety but are also unique. We also need to establish our own — sort of — brand for the type of exhibitions that we hold. I think that our exhibitions ask the audience to compare one object to another. I think a lot of what we will do is comparative, it’s cross-cultural and it does make, in many ways, our displays very intelligent. Something that the public — when they look at it — they realise something that they hadn’t before.
How has the public’s reaction been?
We have academics and other museum-goers. I am very pleased by the way the public has responded to the museum. Just to give you an example, once during lunch at an event in Dubai, a woman sat down next to me because she couldn’t find a better table. She was from Athens, and when I told her that I was the director of the Aga Khan museum, she said, “I’ve been there!”
She said that the museum was beautiful and the displays were gorgeous — one of the best that she had seen. She was also impressed by the fact that there is a museum dedicated to Islamic art in Toronto. That I think is something that a lot of our visitors are struck by.
That is indeed unique — Islamic art in Canada.
I think her story is very similar to many of our visitors’ stories. It’s something they were very impressed with. They hadn’t expected the museum to be this nice with such variety. I have to say that visitor response has been very strong. We have also had a lot of academics visiting because it is not only for the public but also for the specialists. We are as much a research establishment as we are a public museum.
In terms of us as a museum, it’s wonderful to see the ongoing higher education and research programmes. We’ve also had several schoolchildren visit the museum. I think that’s very important because we want people to realise that this museum is also there for people in primary education.
What impact has the museum had on the cultural environment in Canada?
It’s cultural as well as educational. We want to ensure that we appeal to all levels of schooling, whether it’s primary or secondary, all the way up to a higher education. We also teach adults, people who have the time and want to learn more about Islamic art. We have a big programme for these activities and that too has an impact on people. We want to ensure that people view this museum both in terms of education and cultural aspects, and see it as a leader within Toronto, indeed within North America.
Do you invite specialists on Islamic art and artists?
Most certainly so. Much of this is based in the Arab world, and the Muslim world as a whole. One of our initial exhibitions was on contemporary Pakistani art. For this we brought over six Pakistani artists who created works for the exhibition. This is also very important for us because it’s a way of allowing our public access to the work that is being done today.
Have you collaborated with other museums in the world?
Yes, one of the museums that we have a strong working relationship with is the Islamic Art Museum in Doha. We have an agreement with them for exchange of exhibitions. We also have an agreement with State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg as well as Louvre in France ... But we’re also developing partnerships with other museums. For example, the partnership with Barjeel Foundation is very important. But we will have partnerships with other museums as well because in the world of Islamic art, it’s a relatively small field and it’s very important for museums to cooperate.
Do you plan to have more infrastructure at the Toronto museum?
I’d say we’ve done enough building for now ... but I’ll never say never. In the medium term, let’s say five to 10 years down the line, we may find that there is a need for more space ... I do see that in the future, there may be further building projects.
When the site was designed, space was left for the possibility of future expansion. But one thing we have to be very careful about is to ensure that whatever expansion happens is respectful of the building that Fumihiko Maki designed. So, I’m adamant that whatever building comes up in the future should be viewed as separate. I don’t think we can add to this building without damaging its integrity.
Are you planning to have more Islamic art collections?
Very much so. We will have our collection grow, we will purchase objects. But what I’m most keen about is that we’re able to work with collectors and foundations so that they’re willing to either lend, or perhaps even gift, portions of their collection to this museum. I think it’s very important for any museum to have the collection grow. And there is certainly a lot of room for expansion of our historic collection.
Now it’s a cultural institution which has many followers, many people are excited by it. I think the most important thing is that now we can start measuring the impact we have on people’s perception of the arts and culture of the Muslim world. And that’s going to be, I think, our long lasting legacy.
Are you satisfied by the reaction of the Canadian public?
Very much so. Everyone asks, why Canada? It could have been built in so many locations, including Dubai. I have to say that the reactions of the Canadian public have been superb. They have been very supportive. I think all of them see the value of this museum, the fact that this museum represents the culture and arts of a part of the world that is tremendously underrepresented in museums worldwide. I think they’ve accepted that, they relish it.
Many people migrate to Canada for work. Do you think it’s the future vis-à-vis Europe?
I think that it’s a question of degrees. Europe is experiencing changes in its own population and cultural make-up but the rate of change in not nearly as fast as Canada. Canada, I think, is a very daring country. It is actually looking forward to emigration and accepting of the changes that might happen to society from having large groups of new people. That’s very daring and I think that Canada is not standing there and saying, ‘You come to Canada, you become Canadians’.
It’s actually willing to look at what exactly defines being Canadian with the change of population. That’s something that very few countries are willing to do. Canada is a different country than it was 30 years ago and it may be a different country in the same period of time hence.
It’s starting off with the perspective that growth, population change and diversity are actually a good thing. And that’s where this museum, I think, has found itself a population that is perhaps the most conducive to what it’s trying to achieve.
If you could add something to the future of this museum?
All I can say is that we’re very happy with the way that Canadians have responded to this museum, but we’re also very pleased at how people throughout the world are looking towards us. They’re interested in it. They’ve heard about it. They’re very excited by what this museum has to offer.
Shakir Noori is a Dubai-based journalist and author.
