The beautiful Aga Khan Museum will reopen its doors to the public this week with new installations and exhibitions designed to reflect the themes of resilience, hope, renewal, and human connection across cultures.
Faig Ahmed: Dissolving Order: (until September 6) features the work of the acclaimed Azerbaijan-Based artist, who takes a Salvador Dali-like approach to his country’s traditional hand-woven carpets.
Remastered: (until September 6) offers a fresh new look on the Museum’s world-class collection of Iranian Turkish and Mughal Indian manuscript paintings. Anchoring the exhibition is a selection of 11 incredible works that rarely go on display. Digital interactive components of this exhibition allow visitors to explore additional pieces fro the Collection.
State of Play: (until October 24) is a brand new exhibition that examines games and play from many angles. A feature is a playful sculpture installation suspended from the ceiling in the Atrium. A video installation shows a ball, stick, rope and hoop. Both reminders that play and playfulness are often starting points for creativity.
Kumbi Saleh 3020 CE: (until August 29) The Museum’s latest contemporary art acquisition by Ghanaian-Canadian artist Ekow Nimako will be on display in the main-floor gallery. The 30 square-foot sculpture is an Afrofuristic reimagining fo the capital of the medieval Kingdom of Ghana and made of approximately 100,000 black LEGO pieces. The work was the centrepiece in Nimako’s Museum commissioned series Building Black: Civilizations in 2019 an created in response to the exhibition Caravans of Gold: Fragments in Time that was originally organized by the Black Museum of Evanston, Illinois. The exhibition featured West Africa’s sprawling trade in gold and other commodes in the medieval era and its role in the spread of Islam.
The Bloom Rotation: (until October 18) showcases flora-inspired objects in the Museum’s Collection. Throughout the main-floor gallery are pieces adorned with flowers, trees, vines and other greenery. Wander through the gallery and discover nature-inspired designs on paintings, ceramics, and poetry. The pieces reflect the countless ways plants have been used to understand, enhance and express the human experience.
Land/s: is the Museum’s outdoor photo exhibition by U.S. based Iranian photographer Gohar Dashti. In partnership with the CONTACT Scotiabank Photography Festival, the group of large-sized images depict the story of immigration, movement and longing. Photos are taken in Iran and the US of landscapes that are similar in colour pallet and topography showing us that there is, indeed, a place like home.
The Aga Khan Museum is offering a pay-what-you-can pricing for the first week of reopening beginning July 25, 2021. See their site for details.
Also, DIWAN Restaurant is expanding its patio seating and indoor dining is now open. Worth making a day out of your visit!
