Canada

The Moon: A Voyage Through Time is a major new exhibition opening 9 March at the Aga Khan Museum (AKM). It pays tribute to our timeless fascination with the moon by exploring how it has inspired spiritual growth, scientific discovery, and artistic creativity. Spanning pre-Islamic times to the present day, and delving into faith, science, and the arts, The Moon: A Voyage Through Time assembles ancient artifacts, important miniature paintings, scientific instruments, Islamic manuscripts, and contemporary art. The exhibition is curated by Dr. Ulrike Al-Khamis, Director of Collections and Public Programmes, AKM, and guest curator Dr. Christiane Gruber, Professor of Islamic Art, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

A collection of photographs taken by Toronto’s youth from disadvantaged communities in East York, North York, Scarborough, and Richmond Hill is on display at Queen’s Park. Working with the Aga Khan Museum, the exhibit focused on the United Nations' sustainable development goals to transform the world, with topics that range from reduced inequalities and female empowerment, to climate action and economic growth. The museum’s director and CEO Henry Kim was pleased by the progress made by the students.

A new touring show and scholarly catalogue combat a common perception of the Sahara Desert as a wasteland or blank geography. In the Medieval era, the world’s largest desert was actually a robust trade route connected to Asia’s Silk Roads. Organised by the Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University near Chicago, Illinois, Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time is the first show of its kind to reveal how sumptuous artwork and decoration in gold, glass, ceramic and copper flowed through the region by horse and camel, assisted by the spread of Islam. The exhibition will travel to the Aga Khan Museum in September 2019.

The Aga Khan Museum fosters knowledge and understanding of Islamic civilisation through cultural programming and an extraordinary collection of Islamic arts and artifacts, drawn from the collections of His Highness the Aga Khan. Light being the primary inspiration for the project, the building acts as a vessel that is both animated and sculpted by light in myriad ways: casting patterns on the exterior walls of Brazilian granite, enhancing interior spaces, or illuminating the open-roofed courtyard.

The Toronto-based Aga Khan Museum has launched an exhibition of Persian art in Qajar era. The exhibition entitled "Transforming Traditions: The Arts of 19th-Century Iran" is curated by Ulrike Al-Khamis, Director of Collections and Public Programmes, and Bita Pourvash, Assistant Curator, both of the Aga Khan Museum. This exhibition features masterpieces from the Aga Khan Museum collection alongside a large number of exhibits on loan from the Louvre Museum and other institutions.