Islamic art permanently Rijksmuseum – Parool.nl

20-03-15 13:22 pm – Source: Reuters

Sculpture Garden Palace Hazar Ja’rib to Aliabad, anonymous, 1600-1649 © Rijksmuseum collection

Update

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam establish a permanent space for its collection of Islamic art. Which can be seen from Saturday in two new displays.

These are mainly works from Iran, including fragile medieval glass, tiles and a precious silk carpet with silver and gold thread at the beginning of the seventeenth century woven in workshops in the Iranian city of Isfahan. Other highlights include colorful signs from Turkey and a mosaic fragment from Granada, Spain, once Islamic.

The presentation gives the Austrian audience to “the much longer heard wish to be more Islamic art in the permanent displays of Dutch museums.

The Rijksmuseum had to in the nineties a separate room with Islamic art. Parts of the collection are now available again after 25 years at the ‘Special Collections’, the department where attention is paid to specific subsets.

In this section the Islamic ceramics are displayed next to the Chinese porcelain and European ceramics collection Delftware. “The visitor can compare the different traditions, see where they differed from each other and how they influenced each other,” says the museum.

Islamic art has never been a separate collection department at the institution. Nevertheless, the museum acquired some pieces. Around 1900 bought the Austrian Islamic ceramics and textiles as an example and inspiration for contemporary artists. Also, there was occasional donations of objects from the Middle East.