Our friend Patricia Bentley threads together a poetic reflection about her favourite object in the Museum's Collection -- an 800-year-old woven wonder from Iran or Central Asia. "A textile object like this takes me into deep time," says Bentley, a weaver herself, about the intricately detailed robe made from silk cloth and metal thread. Watch Bentley's The Public Curates video to discover ...
See the world from a new perspective with a thought-provoking discussion between two visual artists uncovering rich creative inspiration from science and nature. In the latest REIMAGINE: Global Conversation for the #MuseumWithoutWalls, Toronto-based artist Radha Chaddah and London-based artist Zarah Hussain explore the role of the arts in helping us better understand the wide-ranging impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic -- from the ...
Canada-based Iranian classical masters Padideh Ahrarnejad and Ali Massoudi return with a new two-part Pocket Performance for the #MuseumWithoutWalls. Filmed in 2020 in the Museum's Auditorium, this mini-concert featuring Ahrarnejad on tar and Massoudi on tombak is resplendent in its expressive beauty and technical precision. This is Part 1 of 2 of the duo's performance at the Museum. Part 2 will be ...
Enjoy Part 1 of 2 of a stirring archived Museum performance from Naghmeh Farahmand (percussion), Shahin Fayaz (setar), and Bijan Sepanji (violin). The trio, who are all instructor-performers with Toronto's Sarv Music Academy, blend Iranian and Western classical styles to dramatic effect. To learn more about the Sarv Music Academy: This is Part 1 of 2 of the trio's performance at the ...
How did an African-born warrior make the leap from a bodyguard to a European missionary, to elite warrior and confidant to Japan's most powerful warlord, to 21st-century pop culture icon? In a February 18 online talk for the Museum, author and Nihon University instructor Prof. Thomas Lockley traces the mysterious history and growing cross-cultural impact of the figure popularly known as Yasuke. ...
In honour of Black History Month 2021, relive the magic of Baaba Maal's historic February 2020 residency at the Museum. Watch this video to experience highlights from the Senegalese music legend's Duniya Salaam concerts, a celebration of diversity and world peace. Performing on two consecutive nights in the Museum's Auditorium, Maal shared soaring melodies, rhythms, and stories that have made him one of ...
Get into a mid-week groove with this beautifully transfixing north Indian classical performance by Abbas Janmohamed (tabla) and Smidha Joglekar (vocals). Pocket Performances are presented by TD Bank Group. Bringing online Museum experiences to you is part of our mission to connect cultures and promote understanding between peoples. To learn more about how you can support the Museum by making a donation or ...
In her latest Curator's Pick for the #MuseumWithoutWalls, Dr. Filiz Çakır Phillip unleashes a fantastical beast kept in the Aga Khan Museum's Collection. Sphinxes, harpies, and simurghs are familiar sights in the visual art of Islam, appearing on diverse media including paper, textiles, metal, and ceramics. In contrast, the elephant-headed bird depicted on this fritware bowl from 13th-century Iran is one-of-a-kind. It leads ...
In her latest Curator's Pick for the #MuseumWithoutWalls, Dr. Filiz Çakır Phillip unleashes a fantastical beast kept in the Aga Khan Museum's Collection. Sphinxes, harpies, and simurghs are familiar sights in the visual art of Islam, appearing on diverse media including paper, textiles, metal, and ceramics. In contrast, the elephant-headed bird depicted on this fritware bowl from 13th-century Iran is one-of-a-kind. It leads ...
Go on a musical adventure to Istanbul with the Selcuk Suna Trio. Like the Turkish metropolis itself, the ensemble's rich sound pairs diverse, deeply rooted traditions with modern big-city glamour and grandeur. Born in Istanbul, Turkey in 1981, Selcuk comes from a family of musicians. His father, a professor of traditional Turkish music at Istanbul University, and his brother, a violin player and ...
Toronto teacher and artist Jen Maus waxes poetic about her favourite object in the Aga Khan Museum's Collection. At first, Your Way Begins on the Other Side, by Pakistani artist Aisha Khalid, resembles an impressive, if traditional, Islamic garden carpet, rendered in blue, gold, and red. But, as Maus describes, look closer and you'll find a "highly conceptual artwork, full of beautiful ...
Drift off for a moment to lands of sun, surf, and sand with Jerus Lee's sensational Pocket Performance for the #MuseumWithoutWalls. The Brazilian singer-songwriter traverses continents and cultures with her playful rhythms and smoky melodies. Jerus Lee is a Brazilian singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Over the course of a decade, she has cultivated several impressive musical projects that span different continents. These musical ...
How can the medium of photography improve the fortunes of refugees in Europe, Canada, and elsewhere? Two influential photographers share their experiences in a new REIMAGINE: Global Conversation for the #MuseumWithoutWalls. Joining Museum Curator Dr. Marika Sardar for the conversation are: --Ruth Kaplan, documentary-based photographer in Toronto and instructor at Ryerson University and OCAD University -Olga Stefatou, Athens-based artist and curatorial consultant ...
Last year, the Aga Khan Museum commissioned composer Isaiah Ceccarelli to create a new musical work and graphic score inspired by the Remastered exhibition. Now available for your viewing and listening pleasure, Ardoise pays homage to a dazzling 16th-century manuscript in our Collection -- and the rustic beauty of Quebec's Eastern Townships. Discover the story behind Ardoise and view the graphic score: Music ...
Interdisciplinary artist Jurgita Žvinklytė and musician/luthier Matti Palonen met in 2019, and quickly discovered their cultural connection through music and story-telling. The Honeypaw sound combines a respect for the Lithuanian sutartinė and the Finnish kalevala traditions, while also reflecting the urban landscape around them in Toronto, Canada. They play traditional instruments including the Baltic psaltery, known as kantele in Finland, and kanklės ...
The Wagner Garden Carpet's historic stay at the Aga Khan Museum has come to an end. As we say goodbye to one of the most celebrated masterpieces of Islamic art, dive into the details and fascinating history of Islamic garden carpets with this captivating Sept. 2020 talk by the ever-charismatic Prof. Walter Denny. More about the 2020 Museum exhibition: Paradise Garden: The ...
Musician Beth Silver plays a selection of Jewish music stemming from the Ashkenazi tradition. In her exclusive Pocket Performance for the #MuseumWithoutWalls, she performs klezmer music not on the fiddle, which is more traditional for the genre, but rather on the cello. This innovative playing style was cultivated on a month-long mentorship in Brooklyn with klezmer violinist Jake Shulman-Ment -- an exploration ...
Curator Dr. Michael Chagnon unspools tales of adventure from a 16th-century manuscript of Tuhfet ul-Leta'if (Curious and Witty Gifts), one of the rare, gorgeously rendered books featured in the Museum's Remastered exhibition. Remastered offers audiences a digitally activated glimpse into the Museum's collection of Iranian, Ottoman, and Mughal Indian manuscript paintings. To learn more about the exhibition: Production note: This video was ...
Ring in the New Year with the soothing sounds of two elite string instrumentalists achieving musical synergy on the Museum stage. In the fall, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra's Zeyu Victor Li (violin) and Rémi Pelletier (viola) revisited two beloved classical string duets in the warm acoustic environs of the Museum's Auditorium. Watch their performance and be astounded by the grand emotions and ...
Dissolving into the Pluriverse is a category-blurring new musical composition and graphic score by Iran-born artist Anoush Moazzeni. A response to the exhibition Faig Ahmed: Dissolving Order, the piece incorporates acoustic performance (in this case, Moazzeni playing the piano) and electronically programmed sounds inspired by artistic traditions from West Asia, Morocco, and South America. Visit the Museum's to immerse yourself in the story ...
Enjoy a story from our young friend of the Aga Khan Museum, Armaan, as he shares a story from the book, Two Crafty Jackals by Elizabeth Baird with illustrations by Sadiqi Beg. These lovely stories, all wrapped up in one another so that sometimes one begins before the last has ended, tell the tale of Dimnah, a crafty jackal who sets out to ...
With the winter solstice approaching, Iranians in Western Asia and around the world are preparing to celebrate the festival of Shab e Yalda. To mark the occasion, the Museum's Bita Pourvash has chosen to highlight an object in our Collection that, like the annual holiday, cherishes the beauty of the dark and with it, the promise of the light. To learn more about ...
A designer of sustainable luxury scarves, Nimi Nanji-Simard opens up to the Shop's Shoheb Gwaduri about her mission to use fashion to raise awareness about causes close to her heart. Production note: This video was filmed in Fall 2020 before the introduction of new provincial COVID-19 orders requiring museums in Toronto to close their doors temporarily. Enhanced health and safety measures were in ...
Discover the story of Remastered, a tech-enriched celebration of Iranian, Ottoman, and Mughal Indian manuscript paintings in the Aga Khan Museum's Collection. As Curator Dr. Michael Chagnon explains, the Museum's Fall 2020 special exhibition focuses on timeless stories of courage, love, and living well -- stories that can provide us with much-needed strength and solace in times of great uncertainty. The story of ...
Four up-and-coming opera standouts. Four electrifying performances brimming with passion, sincerity, and finesse. Filmed earlier this fall in the Aga Khan Museum's Auditorium, Operatic Masterworks spotlights emerging artists in the Canadian Opera Company's Ensemble Studio program. Each featured vocalist performs a well-loved operatic composition that resonates with them. Combined together, these masterful displays of musicality highlight opera's irrepressible power as well as ...
Two candles, a set of sandal prints, a hanging lamp with Arabic inscription emblazoned on it. These symbols speak to the deeply spiritual purpose of a panel of 18 tiles from 15th-century Syria. The Museum's Dr. Marika Sardar delves into the details in her latest Curator's Pick for the #MuseumWithoutWalls. To learn more about this object in the Museum's Collection (accession number AKM585): ...
An international ensemble of renowned flamenco artists put the tradition's versatility and resilience to the test in a new performance for the Aga Khan Museum's Duende Festival. Spanish flamenco luminaries Emilio Ochando (dance) and Miriam Mendez (piano) along with Toronto pioneer Carmen Romero present a preview of their latest work-in-progress. Por qué?/Why? is an interrogation of the creative process in the COVID-19 era. ...
A lion, a deer, a hero, a dragon, a phoenix, and a cheeky monkey or two -- can you spot these characters in the Museum's Dr. Filiz Çakır Phillip's latest Curator's Pick for the #MuseumWithoutWalls? The drawing, depicting a lively scene in a dense, wildlife-filled forest, was created in Iran in the early 15th century. It tells a tale that harkens back ...
An international ensemble of renowned flamenco artists put the tradition's versatility and resilience to the test in a new performance for the Aga Khan Museum's Duende Festival. Spanish flamenco luminaries Emilio Ochando (dance) and Miriam Mendez (piano) along with Toronto pioneer Carmen Romero present a preview of their latest work-in-progress. Por qué?/Why? is an interrogation of the creative process in the COVID-19 era. ...
In early 2019, Iranian-born singer Farnaz Ohadi mesmerized Museum audiences with a spellbinding concert focused on songs from her first album, 2016's Bird Dance. Developed over four years, the recording tells of Ohadi's early life in Iran and her decision to leave her country of birth to make a life in Canada. Fast forward to 2020 and the Vancouver-based artist is sharing the ...
A cast of Toronto-based artists showcase flamenco's elemental voices in a selection of new tablaos captured inside the Aga Khan Museum. Using a variety of Museum spaces as a canvas for their explorations, these dancers and musicians each trace a different path down flamenco's family tree. Fantasía is a collection of five dream-like "visions" imagined by Toronto singer and dancer Shirlita La Pili ...
One of Canada's foremost elder statesmen of flamenco reflects on his brilliant career in a new music-and-dance-tinged talk for the Aga Khan Museum's Duende Festival 2020. Indulge in a colourful conversation with Vancouver's Oscar Nieto. Drawing on his five-plus decades as a performer, choreographer, teacher, and student of dance, he paints a vibrant and personal portrait of flamenco's impressive flourishing in North ...
Geology student Niku Darafshi's favourite artifact in the Museum's Collection reminds her of her grandparents in Iran and the close but still mysterious relationship artists have with the sights, sounds, and processes of the natural world. Learn more about Darafshi's The Public Curates pick, a set of two painted tiles from 17th-century Iran: Bringing online Museum experiences to you is part of ...
The Shop's Shoheb Gwaduri and designer Hande Lena Roy "dish" on the beauty and painstaking craftsmanship of hand-painted Turkish and Persian pottery from the Ottoman era to the present day. Bringing online Museum experiences to you is part of our mission to connect cultures and promote understanding between peoples. To learn more about how you can support the Museum by making a donation ...
Saeed Kamjoo is a composer and player of gheychak and kemancheh whose creativity finely combines authenticity and innovation. Even though his music has its roots in the tradition, he also allows himself to explore the new. His innovative approach towards the playing of kamanche is based on his perception of values inherent to Persian art music. He searches new idioms while performing and ...
Amiri was born in Tehran, Iran where much of his youth was spent studying the santur, a 72-string hammer dulcimer that lies at the heart of Persian classical music. Classically trained, Amiri has always sought to explore the limits of his music, stretching beyond the constraints of classical thought. Arriving in Canada in 1996, Amiri found the ability to do just that ...
The history and culture behind perfumes are as rich and varied as the scents. Master perfumer Mohammad Khalaf, of Kajal Perfumes Paris, speaks to the role of fragrance in Middle Eastern and South Asian cultures and offers tips on how to find the blend that's perfect for you. Bringing online Museum experiences to you is part of our mission to connect cultures and ...
One of seven artists participating in the inaugural Field Trip Artist Residency, fibre artist Emily Jan gives us a peek into her work and processes as an artists. This v-log entry, the final one in a group of four, talks about her most recent exhibition discussing diaspora, racism, identity and creativity, especially in the time of COVID. About the Residency: The Field Trip ...
Dynamic performer Shawn Mativetsky is considered one of Canada's leading ambassadors of the tabla, and is a pioneer in bridging the worlds of Western and Indian classical music. Called an "exceptional soloist" by critic Réjean Beaucage, WholeNote's Andrew Timar adds that "as a leading disciple of the renowned Pandit Sharda Sahai, he has serious street cred." Shawn Mativetsky is highly sought-after as ...
In this video we present some of the steps that the Curatorial, Exhibitions and Collections teams take in order to make each of the gallery rotations happen. Parts of the Collection Gallery at the Museum are refreshed twice a year with themed installations which allow light-sensitive material to rest. The current rotation, Bloom, is our ninth display in the Museum's Collection Gallery ...
