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The Benaki Museum of Islamic Art
The Polyglot August 31st 2008
A look inside Athens’ Benaki Museum of Islamic Art: How one European institution has been quietly exhibiting its precious trove from the Middle East for close to a century.
September 11th had one unlikely effect on the art world: a reawakened interest in the West for art and culture emanating from the Middle East. A trend seen throughout Europe, where significant collections of Islamic art, hidden away in the basements of some of the West’s grandest museums, are reemerging from years of obscurity.
Yet despite the current buzz surrounding Islamic art, there has been one museum quietly tucked away in a nondescript area of Athens, which has been displaying its precious trove from the region for close to a century. The Benaki Museum of Islamic Art is not only one of the oldest institutions devoted to the Middle East in Europe, but also serves as the unlikely link between Egypt and its Greek Diaspora.
The collection was amassed over decades by Antonis Benakis, the scion of one of Alexandria’s wealthiest and most prominent families, who also founded the museum in 1930. When they relocated back to Greece before the 1952 revolution in Egypt, Benakis spared his collection from being confiscated by the new regime. Today it is one of the few privately owned collections of Islamic art to have survived that period intact. During World War II and the Nazi occupation of Athens, the then 66 year old Benakis pulled up his sleeves and spent several days packing the museum’s collection for safe hiding.
Not to be confused with the Benaki Museum’s main building, housing a collection of Hellenic art, which is located opposite the lush gardens of the Presidential Palace; in 2004 the institution opened a satellite location to house its Islamic collection exclusively. At the time of its move, the Museum raised eyebrows amongst Athens’ cultural elite for choosing the decidedly less upscale neighborhood of Kerameikos for its new annex; an area better known for its second hand stores than a vibrant art scene. Yet in the last few years the museum’s presence has had a “Bilbao effect” on the area, transforming the once sleepy neighborhood into a hip destination of chic boutiques and restaurants.
One doesn’t necessarily visit the Benaki for the shear volume of it works, which is small in comparison to larger institutions. Instead visitors come to see a collection of Islamic rarities, spanning some 13 centuries of artistic innovation. In the first floor exhibit area one comes upon the legendary Khotan carpet, part of the museum’s collection of ancient textiles, and like most of textiles on display it is not under glass, making it twice as real.
Winding ones way through the museum’s collection is akin to taking a geographic trip through time across the Islamic world. 10,000 pieces transport visitors through the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, North Africa, the countries of the Levant, up to Sicily and Spain, Iran, culminating in Central Asia and India.
Cases filled with intricate Qajar enameled jewelry, some holding the tiny portraits of princesses, recall the splendors of an 18th century Persian court. While another display case holds a collection of delicate Iznik pottery, once displayed at the ‘Exposition d’Art Musulman’ held in Alexandria in 1922. The museum’s rarest piece by far is a large spherical ornament from the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Signed by the artist Musli and dated 1549, it was part of the renovation launched by Suleiman the Magnificent on the mosque in the 16th century. But if the later is considered the museum’s rarest acquisition, it’s most famous piece is an astrolabe created by the astronomer Ahmad ibn al-Sarraj in 1328.
It is no coincidence that this collection, which pays tribute to the beauty and sophistication of Islamic art, should reside in Greece. Situated at the crossroads of East and West, the country has long had a long history of interaction with the Arab world. A fact not lost on many of the visitors from the Middle East, who come to this museum of rarities in search of a fascinating glimpse into their own artistic heritage.
© THE POLYGLOT (all rights reserved) CHICAGO-PARIS
http://the-polyglot.blogspot.com/
September 11th had one unlikely effect on the art world: a reawakened interest in the West for art and culture emanating from the Middle East. A trend seen throughout Europe, where significant collections of Islamic art, hidden away in the basements of some of the West’s grandest museums, are reemerging from years of obscurity.
Yet despite the current buzz surrounding Islamic art, there has been one museum quietly tucked away in a nondescript area of Athens, which has been displaying its precious trove from the region for close to a century. The Benaki Museum of Islamic Art is not only one of the oldest institutions devoted to the Middle East in Europe, but also serves as the unlikely link between Egypt and its Greek Diaspora.
The collection was amassed over decades by Antonis Benakis, the scion of one of Alexandria’s wealthiest and most prominent families, who also founded the museum in 1930. When they relocated back to Greece before the 1952 revolution in Egypt, Benakis spared his collection from being confiscated by the new regime. Today it is one of the few privately owned collections of Islamic art to have survived that period intact. During World War II and the Nazi occupation of Athens, the then 66 year old Benakis pulled up his sleeves and spent several days packing the museum’s collection for safe hiding.
Not to be confused with the Benaki Museum’s main building, housing a collection of Hellenic art, which is located opposite the lush gardens of the Presidential Palace; in 2004 the institution opened a satellite location to house its Islamic collection exclusively. At the time of its move, the Museum raised eyebrows amongst Athens’ cultural elite for choosing the decidedly less upscale neighborhood of Kerameikos for its new annex; an area better known for its second hand stores than a vibrant art scene. Yet in the last few years the museum’s presence has had a “Bilbao effect” on the area, transforming the once sleepy neighborhood into a hip destination of chic boutiques and restaurants.
One doesn’t necessarily visit the Benaki for the shear volume of it works, which is small in comparison to larger institutions. Instead visitors come to see a collection of Islamic rarities, spanning some 13 centuries of artistic innovation. In the first floor exhibit area one comes upon the legendary Khotan carpet, part of the museum’s collection of ancient textiles, and like most of textiles on display it is not under glass, making it twice as real.
Winding ones way through the museum’s collection is akin to taking a geographic trip through time across the Islamic world. 10,000 pieces transport visitors through the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, North Africa, the countries of the Levant, up to Sicily and Spain, Iran, culminating in Central Asia and India.
Cases filled with intricate Qajar enameled jewelry, some holding the tiny portraits of princesses, recall the splendors of an 18th century Persian court. While another display case holds a collection of delicate Iznik pottery, once displayed at the ‘Exposition d’Art Musulman’ held in Alexandria in 1922. The museum’s rarest piece by far is a large spherical ornament from the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Signed by the artist Musli and dated 1549, it was part of the renovation launched by Suleiman the Magnificent on the mosque in the 16th century. But if the later is considered the museum’s rarest acquisition, it’s most famous piece is an astrolabe created by the astronomer Ahmad ibn al-Sarraj in 1328.
It is no coincidence that this collection, which pays tribute to the beauty and sophistication of Islamic art, should reside in Greece. Situated at the crossroads of East and West, the country has long had a long history of interaction with the Arab world. A fact not lost on many of the visitors from the Middle East, who come to this museum of rarities in search of a fascinating glimpse into their own artistic heritage.
© THE POLYGLOT (all rights reserved) CHICAGO-PARIS
http://the-polyglot.blogspot.com/
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i had no idea!