Beyond Unity and Diversity: Permanent Galleries of Islamic Art in the Museum

The concepts of unity and diversity still reign supreme as tools to define, teach, and exhibit “Islamic art.” In museums, these dual concepts have manifested in permanent galleries that emphasize regional styles and also demonstrate connections across time and places where Islam is the predominant faith. Beyond employing the concepts of unity and diversity to define Islamic art, this paper demonstrates that the curatorial approaches to Islamic arts and the interpretive methods used to frame them ought to be both diverse and unified. In other words, successful installations employ different lenses through which viewers can engage with the arts of Islamic cultures by offering myriad avenues of access. These lenses may focus on artists, patrons, collectors, dealers, dynasties, sects, regions, languages, technologies, media, motifs, mobilities, sensory experiences, devotional practices, social classes, minority groups, gender, or Contemporary communities. Through careful selection and juxtaposition of these themes, objects are able to tell various stories that together build a larger narrative. Parallel to this diversification of approaches and methods, curatorial cohesion across the museum avoids unintentional “Othering” of Islamic art. From the language used for collection categories and wall didactics to the design and mapping of the galleries, these relationships between collections within the museum subconsciously affect the reception and understanding of the art on display. In short, diversified curatorial approaches to Islamic art in the museum in addition to collaboration across curatorial departments can dismantle inherited hierarchies, deconstruct myths, and entice diverse audiences to engage with the complexities of Islamic art histories.