The calendar that follows is updated bimonthly as of the 15th of each of January, March, May, July, September and November. Most institutions listed have further information available through the World Wide Web. Please reconfirm dates and times before traveling. Readers are welcome to submit information for possible inclusion in this listing through the Feedback page. (Please note in the subject line, "Events & Exhibitions.")
Current/August
Muraqqa‘: Imperial Mughal Albums From the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin. Among the most remarkable of Mughal paintings and calligraphies are those commissioned by the Emperors Jahangir (1605–1627) and Shah Jahan (1627–1658) for display in lavish imperial albums. A window into the world-views of the emperors, these exquisite images depict the rulers, the imperial family in relaxed private settings, Sufi teachers and mystics, allies and courtiers and natural-history subjects. Many folios are full-page paintings with superb figural borders; others are collages of European, Persian, and Mughal works collected by the emperors. Produced by the atelier’s leading artists, they reveal the conceptual and artistic sophistication of the arts of the book at their apex in the early 17th century. The exhibition brings together 86 masterpieces—many not previously exhibited in the United States—from the renowned Dublin collection. Catalog $45. Sackler Gallery, Washington, D.C., through August 3.
Gülsün Karamustafa: Bosphorus 1954 reflects a noteworthy moment in Istanbul’s history. In that very cold winter, ice floes from the Black Sea accumulated in the Bosporus Strait, creating a popular curiosity. Karamustafa shows one video work and several photographs about this unprecedented event, but his metaphor-ical message is that Istanbul cannot be assigned to any specific region of the world, and the resulting tensions contribute much to the city’s vitality. Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany, through August 3.
A View of a Foreign Culture: Melchior Lorck in Turkey. Danish artist Melchior Lorck traveled to Constantinople during the reign of Sultan Suleiman II as part of a peace mission from Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I. Melchior was to document Ottoman culture, then almost unknown in the West. Lorck’s 128 woodcuts were published posthumously in 1626, and this exhibition brings together some 120 of them, alongside drawings and prints. Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, Denmark, through August 3.
Mitra Tabrizian: This is That Place brings together more than 17 large-scale works focusing on such themes as the rise of corporate culture, ageism, nomadism, migrancy and the idea of homeland. The Iranian-British photographer combines documentary techniques with those of film to create elaborate, meticulously staged photographic tableaux. Tate Britain, London, through August 10.
Exquisite Beauty: Islamic Jades provides an overview of the artistic traditions behind ancient Chinese vessels, and also covers the expansion and influence of jade throughout the Islamic world. The Kunlun Mountains in eastern Central Asia are the most significant source of nephrite jade, supplying not only Chinese artisans with raw materials, but also those in the Timurid, Mughal and Ottoman Empires—and in Eastern Europe as well. National Palace Museum, Taipei, through August 15.
Allure of the East: Orientalism in New York, 1850–1930. Through paintings, prints, photographs and books as well as silver, lighting and metalwork, the exhibition (a prelude to “Woven Splendor,” below) explores New Yorkers’ fascination with the “Orient.” By the 1860’s, New Yorkers were incorporating facets of Eastern design, as well as imported exotic objects, in domestic interiors influenced by Islamic art. Photographs of New York interiors reveal the opulent luxury of these interiors; decorative arts inspired by the East are also exhibited, including Islamic-style silver by Tiffany & Co. and Moorish-style chandeliers and lighting. New-York Historical Society, through August 17.
Woven Splendor From Timbuktu to Tibet: Exotic Rugs and Textiles From New York Collectors chronicles the 75-year history of the Hajji Baba Club, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious rug collecting club, while examining the history of the Oriental rug in New York. Some 75 objects are exhibited, including rugs, costumes and other Middle Eastern and Central Asian textiles, as well as photographs depicting Oriental rugs in collectors’ homes in the early 20th century and revealing how such objects were originally made available through galleries and World’s Fairs. The exhibi-tion explores how rugs were produced and used in their countries of origin, as well as how Americans initially understood these objects. New-York Historical Society, through August 17.
Resisting Color: Textiles Tied and Dyed features 18 resist-dyed ikat and plangi textiles ranging in date from the late 19th to the mid-20th century and originating in Argentina, Chile, Ecuador and Guatemala; Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon and Algeria; Indonesia, Laos and China; and Uzbekistan. Most of the exhibits were originally used as ceremonial clothing. Dallas Museum of Art, through August 24.
Persian Visions: Contemporary Photography From Iran presents more than 80 images that provide a revealing view of Iranian life and experience. The 20 artists featured are among Iran’s most celebrated and include Esmail Abbasi (references to Persian literature), Bahman Jalali, Shariyar Tavakoli (family histories), Mehran Mohajer, Shoukoufeh Alidousti (self-portraits and family photographs) and Ebrahim Kahdem-Bayatvin. Some have lived abroad and returned to view their homeland from a changed perspective. Anti-exotic and specific, these images make up the first survey of contemporary Iranian photography to be presented in the United States. Mulvane Art Museum, Topeka, Kansas, through August 24.
Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs includes 130 works from the Egyptian National Museum, among them a selection of 50 spectacular objects excavated from the tomb of Tutankhamun, including one of the canopic coffinettes, inlaid with gold and precious stones, that contained his mummified internal organs. Additional pieces in the exhibition derive from the tombs of royalty and high officials of the 18th Dynasty, primarily from the Valley of the Kings. These additional works place the unique finds from the tomb of Tutankhamun into context and illustrate the wealth and development of Egyptian burial practice during the New Kingdom. O2, London, through August 30.
The Lure of the East: British Orientalist Painting, 1830–1925 shows more than 110 images of bazaars, baths and domestic interiors in the Near and Middle East by such artists as Joshua Reynolds, J. F. Lewis, W. H. Hunt, David Wilkie, John Singer Sargent, William Holman Hunt, J. M. W. Turner, Roger Fenton, Andrew Geddes and Edward Lear. It is the first exhibition to survey British painters’ representations of the Middle East from the 17th to the early 20th century; their responses to the people, cities and landscapes of the region; the cross-pollination of British and Islamic artistic traditions; and the use of “the Orient” as an exotic backdrop. Catalog £25. Tate Britain, London, through August 31; Pera Museum, Istanbul, October 2008 through January 2009.
The Profane and the Divine: Arts of Antiquity, Jewels of the Musée Barbier-Mueller presents more than 250 pieces from this famous collection of ancient art. Highlights include pieces from ancient Egypt, the Bronze Age Aegean and continental Greece; Roman, Etruscan and Mesopotamian objects; works from Uruk and Sumer; ancient Persian bronze pieces; and works dating back to the third millennium bc from Bactria. Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, Geneva, through August 31.
Living Under the Crescent Moon: Domestic Culture in the Arab World demonstrates the diversity of domestic lifestyles between Morocco, Syria and the Arabian Peninsula, from the nomadic tents of the Tuareg or Bedouins to Moroccan casbahs, from the grand courtyard houses of Marrakech, Damascus or Cairo to buildings by such 20th-century architects as Hassan Fathy, Elie Mouyal or Abdelwahed El-Wakil. Numerous models and reconstructed room environments provide an opportunity to physically experience various building types, while domestic objects such as ceramics, textiles, tools and architectural elements offer impressions of everyday customs. The exhibition makes it possible for the visitor to compare his or her own living situation with life in the Arab world. Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, Germany, through August 31.
Fragmentation and Unity: The Art of Sari Khoury features more than two dozen abstract works by the internationally known artist and educator, who left Jerusalem at 17, in the 1950’s, to forge a new life in the American Midwest. Khoury, who died in 1997, was a prolific writer and speaker; his words share gallery space with his artworks. Arab American National Museum, Dearborn, Michigan, through August 31.
Lost Kingdoms of the Nile: Nubian Treasures from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston provides unprecedented insight into ancient Nubia, the extraordinary African civilization often overshadowed by ancient Egypt. Presenting some of the most significant archeological treasures ever found in Africa, the exhibition includes more than 250 objects in gold, silver, bronze, ivory, stone and ceramic ranging in date from 7000 BC to modern times. The exhibition highlights include a golden diadem, here reconstructed in its entirety for the first time; finely crafted ceramics; shawabti figurines, buried to work for the dead; and inscriptions. Carlos Museum, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, through August 31.
Current/September
Farouk Hosny: The Energy of Abstraction includes approximately 20 large-format paintings in which the Egyptian artist —since 1987 also his country’s minister of culture—transforms the signs of his native country into restless, calligraphic gestures using vivid colors evocative of the Egyptian landscape. Now one of Egypt’s most prominent contemporary artists, Hosny began painting as a young man, initially concentrating on landscapes and seascapes. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Alexandria in 1964. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, through September 1.
Picasso Abu Dhabi: Masterpieces From the Musée National Picasso, Paris presents works from all periods and styles of Picasso’s career as one of the 20th century’s most important artists. The 183 works on display, including paintings, sculptures and works on paper, range from Picasso’s Blue Period “Self-Portrait” (1901) through “Portrait of the Young Painter” (1972), made only months before his death. Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi, through September 4.
Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul explores the cultural heritage of ancient Afghanistan from the Bronze Age (2500 BC) through the rise of trade along the Silk Roads in the first century of our era. Among the nearly 230 works on view, all from the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul, are artifacts as old as 4000 years, as well as gold objects from the famed Bactrian Hoard, a 2000-year-old treasure of Bactrian grave goods excavated at Tillya Tepe in 1978 and long thought to have been stolen or destroyed, but rediscovered in 2003. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., through September 7; Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, October 24 through January 25.
Nahnou: Together Now uses prints, photography, film and timelines to reveal individual and artistic encoun-ters between the UK, Syria and Jordan. Part of a two-year exchange program involving artists, curators, teachers and young people, the exhibition includes individual prints, quotes and obser-vations, poetry, interviews and film. Led by British artists Faisal Abdu’Allah and Maria Zeb Benjamin, filmmaker Trevor Mathison and Tate curators, other artists include Reem Al-Khatib from Syria and Samah Hijawi from Jordan. Tate Britain, London, through September 7.
Humanitas: Images of India presents the product of a five-year photographic adventure: portraits of the ordinary people of India—especially Gujarat—as they go about their lives. With these images, Angeleno photographer Fredric Roberts hopes to convey the power of his subjects’ relationships with God, their land, their neighbors and their families, and reveal their own sense of self-possession and self-worth despite their material poverty. Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, California, through September 7.
For Tent and Trade: Masterpieces of Turkmen Weaving includes some 40 rugs and tent trappings from the museum’s world-class collection, all woven from the white, long-staple, highly hydroscopic wool of adaptable, fat-tailed Saryja sheep, endemic to Central Asia. In spite of the fact that most of the weaving is done on simple horizontal looms staked to the ground, the work of Turkmen weavers, of which extant examples date back to the fourth century BC, is very skillful, well designed and highly patterned. Also on view are five striking mantles masterfully embroidered and worn by women of three different Turkmen tribes. de Young Museum, San Francisco, through September 7.
In Palaces and Tents: The Islamic World From China to Europe describes Muslim contacts with neighboring cultures through more than 300 objects, divided into three chronological sections and one political one, dealing with Russia, that includes a magnificent Bukharan tent. State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia, through September 7.
To Live Forever: Egyptian Treasures from the Brooklyn Museum uses some 120 pieces of jewelry, statues, coffins and vessels dating from 3600 BC to the year 400 of our era to illustrate the range of strategies and prepa-rations that the ancient Egyptians developed to defeat death and to achieve success in the afterlife. The exhibition explores the belief that death was an enemy that could be vanquished, a primary cultural tenet of ancient Egyptian civilization. Catalog by curator Edward Bleiberg, $39.95. Indianapolis [Indiana] Museum of Art, through September 7.
Impressed by Light: Photographs From Paper Negatives, 1840–1860 is the first exhibition to highlight British photographs made from paper negatives and features approximately 120 works by such leading artists as Roger Fenton, Linnaeus Tripe and B. B. Turner, as well as many now unfamiliar practitioners. The exhibition follows the progress of the movement from the invention of the process by William Henry Fox Talbot in 1839 to the Great Exhibition of 1851, where the esthetic possibilities of the calotype were amply illustrated, to its flowering in the years immediately thereafter. Musée d’Orsay, Paris, through September 7.
Land of the Pharaohs is an exhibition of popular Egyptian objects chronicling everyday life in ancient Egypt, including farming, personal adornment, religion and beliefs. The display also features Roman-period Egyptian objects on loan from the British Museum. Segedunum Roman Fort, Baths & Museum, Wallsend (near Newcastle), UK, through September 8.
Contemporary Arab Art shows work by Suad Al-Attar, Sabhan Adam, Fouad Bellamine, Dia Azzawi, Mahi Binebine and Rafik El-Kamel, juxtaposing various stylistic techniques and the intersecting influences of heritage and homeland. Le Violon Bleu, London, through September 10.
From the Land of the Labyrinth: Minoan Crete, 3000–1100 BC presents more than 280 artifacts and works of art that bring to life the story of Crete’s luminous Minoan culture, the first palatial civilization to establish itself on European soil. It illuminates Minoan daily life during the second and third millennia BC, including social structure, communications, trade, bureaucratic organization, religion, and technology. In 11 thematic sections, the exhibition maps chrono-logically the Minoans’ great achieve-ments, showing gold jewelry, clay tablets and other objects inscribed in Linear A (still undeciphered), ceremonial vessels, votive figures, double axes, murals, seal-stones and a boar-tusk helmet. Onassis Cultural Center, New York, through September 13.
Be(com)ing Dutch answers such awkward questions as “What does ‘being Dutch’ or ‘becoming Dutch’ mean in the 21st century? What is Dutchness, anyway, and how do the Dutch want to be seen by themselves and others?” Not only in the museum but also in the city of Eindhoven, works by 37 artists explore these complicated notions. Middle Eastern artists taking part include Abdellatif Benfaidoul, Ahmet Öğüt, Mounira Al-Solh, Rana Hamadeh and Öğuz Tatari. Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Netherlands, through September 14.
A Youth Orchestra of Palestine: Photographs by Peter Dammann documents the establishment of the West–Eastern Divan Orchestra by the Barenboim–Said Foundation. Dammann’s images show a close relationship with the musicians and pupils, resulting in 60 black-
and-white photographs taken during nine trips over the past four years. Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany, through September 21.
The Arts of Kashmir demonstrates the cultural riches of the region, with its Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic art dating from the fourth to the 20th century. The exhibition includes some 135 objects: carpets and embroidery, calligraphy, furniture, paintings, papier-mâché and sculpture. Cincinnati [Ohio] Art Museum, through September 21.
Sunken Treasures of Egypt presents a spectacular collection of some 500 artifacts recovered from the seabed off the coast of Alexandria and in Aboukir Bay. Lost from view for more than 1000 years, they were brought to light by an ongoing series of expeditions first launched in 1992. Thanks to these excavations, important parts of a lost world have resurfaced, among them the ancient city of Thonis-Heracleion, the eastern reaches of Canopus, the sunken part of the Great Port of Alexandria and the city’s legendary royal quarter. The finds shed new light on the history of those cities and of Egypt as a whole over a period of almost 1500 years, from the last pharaonic dynasties to the dawn of the Islamic era. Antiguo Matadero de Legazpi, Madrid, through September 28.
The Greeks presents more than 180 artifacts that shed light on the imprint left by the Greeks on world civilizations and cultures. The exhibition is divided into sections that cover prehistory and antiquity, the Byzantine period, the Greeks in the Ottoman Empire and the creation of today’s modern Greek state. Exhibits, from the Benaki Museum in Athens, include sculptures, ceramics, jewelry, textiles, paintings, metalwork, icons, toys, figurines, lamps and wooden chests. Canadian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau, Quebec, through September 28.
Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs is [another] extensive exhibition of more than 140 treas-ures from the tomb of the celebrated pharaoh and other sites. It includes his golden sandals, created specifically for the afterlife and found on his feet when his mummy was unwrapped; one of the gold canopic coffinettes, inlaid with jewels, that contained his mummified internal organs; and a three-meter figure depicting Tutankhamun as a young man, which originally may have stood at his mortuary temple. Providing context and additional information are 75 objects from other tombs in the Valley of the Kings. Museum für Völkerkunde, Vienna, through September 28; Carlos Museum, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, opening November 15.
Magic in Ancient Egypt: Image, Word, and Reality explores how the Egyptians, known throughout the ancient world for their expertise in magic, addressed the unknown forces of the universe. Ancient Egyptians did not distinguish between religion and magic, and believed that the manipulation of written words, images and ritual could influence the world through a divinely created force known as Heqa, personified as the eldest son of the solar creator Atum. The exhibition also examines connections between magic and medicine and the use of magic after death. Brooklyn [New York] Museum, through September 28.
Current/October
Babylon: Myth and Truth explores the myth of Babel and the facts of Babylon: two worlds in one exhibition. The first section, Truth, exposes the roots of our western culture by looking at the archeological remains of Babylon, revealing what lies behind the legends. This section centers on the Ishtar Gate and the Processional Way of Babylon, one of the ancient Seven Wonders. Over 800 objects are exhibited, among them statues, reliefs, votive offerings, architectural fragments and documents, from the British Museum, the Louvre and the Réunion des Musées Nationaux, and the Municipal Museums of Berlin. The second section, Myth, views Babylon as a metaphor for civilization’s dark side: repression, terror, violence, hubris and madness. In European art and culture, the myth of Babel is closely related to mankind’s primal fears. This story is not a historical one, but illuminates a civilization that needs the myth of Babel in order to understand itself. Pergamonmuseum, Berlin, through October 5; British Museum, London (with about 100 objects), opens November 13.
Perspectives: Y. Z. Kami presents two monumental portraits from the Tehran-born artist’s current series depicting individuals in meditation. In a third work, he uses collage and verses by Jelaluddin Rumi to create a spiral of calligraphy. Sackler Gallery, Washington, D.C., through October 13.
Ghada Amer: Love Has No End, the first US survey of the renowned artist’s work, features some 50 pieces from every aspect of Amer’s career as a painter, sculptor, illustrator, performer, garden designer and installation artist. These include such iconic works as Barbie Loves Ken, Ken Loves Barbie (1995/2002) as well as numerous works devoted to world politics, including some of her more recent antiwar pieces. Brooklyn [New York] Museum, through October 19.
Current/November
Um Kulthum: “The Fourth Pyramid” marks the 30th anniversary of the death of the great singer also called “The Lady,” “The Voice of the Arabs” and “The Star of the East.” The exhibition includes photographs, audio and film clips, documents and costumes in each of four sections: “The Egyptian,” about Um Kulthum as a person; “The Talent,” about her abilities as a singer and interpreter; “The Engagement,” about her relations with her usually adoring public; and “The Heritage.” Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, through November 2.
Excavating Egypt: Great Discoveries from the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology offers a view into the lives of both royal and average Egyptians, showing more than 200 ancient objects and works of art from the earliest periods of Egyptian history to the late Roman period. The exhibition also tells the story of archeologist William Matthew Flinders Petrie (1853–1942), one of archeology’s greatest pioneers, and his exploration of ancient Egyptian civilization, and captures the adventurous spirit of the early days of Egyptian archeology. The exhibits include one of the world’s oldest garments, a rare beaded-net dress from the Pyramid Age, ca. 2400 BC; a fragment of a history book from 2400 BC; the earliest examples of metalwork in Egypt; the earliest examples of glass—so rare the Egyptians classed it with precious gems; the oldest “blueprint,” written on papyrus; and the oldest known royal monument, from the reign of the legendary Scorpion King about 3100 BC. Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, through November 2.
Current/December
Catastrophe! The Looting and Destruction of Iraq’s Past deals with both the looting of the Iraq National Museum in Baghdad and the ongoing looting of archeological sites that poses an even greater threat to the cultural heritage of Iraq and the world. Archeological finds and photographs of looted sites and damaged artifacts illustrate such themes as the importance of archeology to history and identity; looting and damage to archeological sites; past combat damage and current construction damage; loss of arche-ological context; the routes looted artifacts take from Iraq to art markets; progress of recovery efforts at the Iraq Museum; and what can be done. Oriental Institute Museum, Chicago, through December 31.
Treasures: Antiquities, Eastern Art, Coins and Casts presents more than 200 of the most significant objects in the Ashmolean’s world-renowned collections. The exhibition provides visitors with a rare opportunity to discover the historic crossing of time and culture in this portrayal of artistic achievement and the development of civilization in Europe, the Near East and the Far East. The treasures represent more than 30 cultures dating from Paleolithic times to the present day, and are presented in nine sections reflecting basic aspects of human activity and interest throughout history. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK, through December 31.
Current/January
Palestine 1948: Remembering a Past Homeland presents the recollection of the nakba, “the catastrophe” that followed the establishment of Israel in 1948, from a Palestinian perspec-tive. The exhibition comprises four sections, connected by the central theme of memory and loss. Historical photos by Khalil Raad (1854–1957) give a sense of everyday life in Palestine in the 1920’s. In recently filmed video interviews, Palestinian refugees of 1948 tell their personal stories of war, escape and exile. American photographer Alan Gignoux shows photos of Palestinian refugees in combination with contemporary pictures of the precise locations they left in 1948. The video art of Palestinian Jumana Emil Abboud, a resident of Jerusalem, expresses the longing for a homeland and raises the possibility or impossibility of return. Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam, through January 4.
Battleground: War Rugs from Afghanistan presents 118 carpets that tell the story of a world turned upside down. Beginning soon after the USSR invaded Afghanistan in 1979, Afghan rug weavers bore witness to disaster by weaving unprecedented images of battle and weaponry into their rugs: Kalashnikovs replaced flowers; jet fighters replaced birds. War rugs continued to be produced through three decades of international and civil war. Textile Museum of Canada, Toronto, through January 27.
Current/March and Later
Shared Beauty: Eastern Rugs and Western Beaded Purses. Beaded purses were extremely popular in the 1920’s, and a wide variety of patterns was depicted on them, including flowers, landscapes and other popular motifs. Some of the most fashionable designs were copied from Persian, Turkish, Caucasian, Turkmen and Indian carpets and textiles, and this exhibition explores the juxtaposition between bags and rugs and, more generally, the influences of eastern on western art and fashion. Indianapolis [Indiana] Museum of Art, through March 8.
Generations Under the Arabian Sun commemorates Saudi Aramco’s 75th anniversary and includes more than 500 historical pictures of company and community life. Grouped by decades, the 25 to 50 pictures per group are complemented by dioramas showing special events or developments in the company’s past. bereskcp@aramco.com or +966-3-872-0458. Saudi Aramco Community Heritage Gallery, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, through April 1.
Coming/July
Faces of Ancient Arabia is drawn primarily from a recent gift of more than 70 works of Yemeni alabaster sculpture dating from the third century BC to the third century of our era, and focuses on the importance and splendor of the kingdoms of Southern Arabia—the land of the Queen of Sheba—which prospered through trade in incense and other precious goods with Egypt, the Near East and the Roman Empire. The exhibition examines these kingdoms’ artistic sophistication and visual splendor. Works by contemporary Yemeni artist Fuad al-Futaih and modern photographs of present-day Yemen are also on display. 410-547-9000 or info@thewalters.org. Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland, July 20 through September 7.
Shrunken Treasures: Miniaturization in Books and Art highlights more than 30 small-scale manuscripts and rare books, ranging from Books of Hours and copies of the Qur’an to almanacs and books of poetry, and explores the many reasons for miniaturizing art, from the need for portability, through the desire to concentrate supernatural powers, to the ambition to make boundary-stretching works of art. Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland, July 25 through October 2009.
Coming/August
Evet: I Do! German and Turkish Wedding Culture and Fashion from 1800 to Today juxtaposes the customs and clothing associated with what is, for most people, still a very important occasion, when a simple “I do!” changes lives. Special clothing for bride and groom emphasizes the importance of the transition. Exhibits from Turkish and German museums, from the 19th century to contemporary designers’ products, help answer such questions as “Why are bridal gowns traditionally white? What happens on the henna night? What—and why— is a shivaree?” Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Dortmund, Germany, August 17 through January 25.
Azerbaijan: 5000 Years of History and Culture in the Caucasus. Ethnological Museum, Berlin (Dahlem), August 27 through November 16.
Coming/September
Ayşe Erkmen: Weggefärten (Fellow Travelers) is a comprehensive solo exhibition of the Turkish conceptual artist’s works. First forging a path (Weg) from the building’s outside to its interior, she links the various spaces leading to the actual exhibition site on the first floor of the east wing. Along with sculptures and a large installation dovetailing with earlier works, the exhibition includes her film oeuvre. Hamburger Bahnhof, Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin, September 13 through January 11.
Homer: The Myth of Troy in Poetry and Art presents the historical Homer and the extraordinary influence of his epics, The Iliad and The Odyssey, whose first appearance in written form marked the transition from the preservation of literature in human memory to its storage in ever newer extracorporeal forms. To show how the epics were received, the exhibition juxtaposes objects from antiquity with later works of art from the Renaissance to modern times: Odysseus’s wanderings, the Trojan horse and the characteristics of the gods of antiquity are still common artistic references today. A highlight of the exhibition is the eighth-century “Nestor’s Cup,” whose three-line inscription is one of the earliest references to The Iliad. Reiss-Engelhorn Museums, Mannheim, Germany, September 14 through January 18.
The Essential Art of African Textiles: Design Without End illustrates the diverse classical textile genres created by artists in West Africa, displaying some of their earliest-documented and finest works. Textiles have constituted an important form of esthetic expres-sion throughout Africa’s history and across its cultural landscape, and have been a focal point of the continental trading networks that carried material culture and technological innovations among regional centers and linked Africa to the outside world. Exhibits include items from the Metropolitan’s own holdings along with some 20 works that entered the British Museum’s collection by the early 20th century, but also include works by seven living artists. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, September 30 through March 29.
Art & Empire: Treasures from Assyria in the British Museum. From the ninth to the seventh centuries BC, the Assyrians emerged as the dominant power in the Near East, controlling all of present-day Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel and Egypt, as well as large parts of Turkey and Iran. It was the largest empire known until that time. This exhibition includes the most powerful and moving of the art of the Assyrians. Military dress and equipment, horse trappings and harnesses illustrate life in the army. Carved ivories, furniture fittings and metal vessels showcase the luxurious lifestyle enjoyed by the king and his court. An array of three-dimensional objects—figures of deities, clay tablets, clay seals and sealings—address the administration of the empire, trade, legal and social issues, and interrela-tionships between religion, magic and medicine. Exorcisms, omen texts, mathematical texts and literary compositions from the royal library enshrine the wisdom of ancient Mesopotamia, the cradle of western civilization. Museum of Fine Arts Boston, September 21 through January 4.
Coming/October
Teaching About the Arab World and Islam is the theme of full-day teacher workshops conducted by Arab World and Islamic Resources and School Services (AWAIR) of Berkeley, California. www.awaironline.org. Sites and dates currently scheduled include Jackson, Mississippi, October 4; Oxford, Mississippi, October 17.
Garden and Cosmos: The Royal Paintings of Jodhpur. Newly discovered paintings from the royal collection of Jodhpur form the core of this groundbreaking exhibition of 61 paintings from the desert palace at Nagaur, along with a silk-embroidered tent. These startling images, 120 centimeters in width, are unprecedented in Indian art and reveal the emergence of a uniquely sensuous garden aesthetic in the 18th century. Ten 17th-century Jodhpur paintings borrowed from museum collections in India, Europe and the US reveal the idiom from which the innovations of later Jodhpur painting emerged. Sackler Gallery, Washington, D.C., October 11 through January 4.
Coming/November
Wonderful Things: The Harry Burton Photographs and the Discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamun. The tomb, one of the most famous archeological finds of all time, was one of the first large-scale excavations to be thoroughly documented through photography. The clearance of the tomb took 10 years, and in that time, photographer Harry Burton took more than 1400 large-format black-and-white images. The exhibition consists of 50 of Burton’s photographs with explanatory labels, wall panels that discuss the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun and the role of the Oriental Institute in its interpretation, the early use of photography in arche-ology, the photographic career of Harry Burton, and how the photog-raphs fueled the public relations campaign of the excavators and spawned the myth of the curse of Tutankhamun. Carlos Museum, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, opens November 15.
Beyond Babylon: Art, Trade, and Diplomacy in the Second Millennium BC focuses on the extraordinary art created as a result of a sophisticated network that linked kings, diplomats, merchants and others in the Near East during the second millennium BC. Approximately 350 objects from royal palaces, temples and tombs—as well as from a unique shipwreck—provide an overview of artistic exchange and international connections throughout the period. From Syria, Mesopotamia and Egypt in the south to Thrace, Anatolia and the Caucasus in the north, and from regions as far west as mainland Greece all the way east to Iran, the great royal houses forged intense international relationships through the exchange of traded raw materials and goods as well as letters and diplomatic gifts. This movement of precious materials, luxury goods and people resulted in a transformation of the visual arts throughout a vast territory. Many of these works have either only recently been exca-vated or have never been shown abroad. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, November 18 through March 15.
Beyond Boundaries: Islamic Art Across Cultures is the long-awaited opening exhibition of Qatar’s new Museum of Islamic Art. Part of the museum’s collection was exhibited at the Louvre in 2006 under the title “From Cordoba to Samarqand,” and featured metalwork, ceramics, jewelry, carpets, calligraphy, textiles and carved ivory. Recently, the museum bought the Nuhad Es-Sahid collection of Islamic metalwork and 40 Mughal and Persian miniature paintings from the collection of Stuart Carey Welch. Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar, November 22.
Permanent
The Saudi Aramco Exhibit relates the heritage of Arab-Islamic scientists and scholars of the past to the technology of today’s petroleum exploration, production and transportation, set against the background of the natural history of Saudi Arabia. Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
