For full program notes, please visit: About: The Aga Khan Master Musicians create music inspired by their own deep roots in the cultures of the Middle East and Mediterranean Basin, South Asia, Central Asia, and China. Brought together by the Aga Khan Music Programme to explore how musical innovation can contribute to the revitalization of cultural heritage, the Master Musicians are venerated performers and ...
For full program notes, please visit: About: The Aga Khan Master Musicians create music inspired by their own deep roots in the cultures of the Middle East and Mediterranean Basin, South Asia, Central Asia, and China. Brought together by the Aga Khan Music Programme to explore how musical innovation can contribute to the revitalization of cultural heritage, the Master Musicians are venerated performers and ...
In this video, Philip Geisler, a PhD candidate at the Graduate School Muslim Cultures and Societies in Berlin, who has studied the art displays at the Aga Khan Museum over the last two years, reveals his fascination with the meaning of matter that objects are made of. It reminds him that every object has an ecological significance that is entangled with its ...
Celebrate the opening of the Museum's Remastered exhibition with an exclusive performance by singer Lamia Yared and her ensemble. Drawing from her 2019 debut album Chants des Trois Cours ("Songs of the Three Courts"), the Quebec-based singer and instrumentalist will unearth poetry and melodies from the geographies now known as Syria, Egypt, Turkey, and Iran, blending stories and cultural influences that would once ...
Selecting which manuscript paintings to put on display takes more than just the turn of a page. Find out the game-changing role of technology in helping the Aga Khan Museum's curators and Exhibitions personnel manage the objects in our Collection. This video features Aga Khan Museum Assistant Curator Bita Pourvash and Administrative Coodinator of Collections and Public Programs Alessandra Cirelli. Bringing online Museum experiences ...
Amir Koushkani's training in Persian music began in Iran, where he was introduced to traditional Persian themes under the tutelage of Master Dariush Pirniakan. He holds a Masters Degree in Western Musical Composition and received a PhD in Ethnomusicology at York University, where his dissertation covered the history and theory of Iranian musical transcription. He has recently published a two-volume study on ...
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 second of four, shows viewers a preview of her project titled "The Museum of Everywhere and Nowhere." Recreating a vast survey of objects "collected" throughout her travels and career, Jan ...
In our latest Curator's Pick, the Museum's Dr. Filiz Çakır Phillip explores the far-reaching influence of Iranian scholar Ibn Sina, who became known in the West as Avicenna. Writing in the 11th century, Ibn Sina authored The Canon of Medicine, the most celebrated medical encyclopedia of the Medieval era. The Museum has in its Collection two early volumes of the encyclopedia, which ...
In our latest REIMAGINE conversation for the #MuseumWithoutWalls, Curator Dr. Marika Sardar engages two global arts leaders breaking down barriers to museum accessibility in their home countries. Dig into their groundbreaking work to make arts and culture spaces more inclusive. Her two guest speakers are: -Poulomi Das, Founder, Varnika Designs and the Museum Memories Project (India) -Goabaone Montsho, Curator - Ethnology Division, ...
Aga Khan Museum supporter Shahzad Cokar reveals which intricately detailed object in our Collection transports him back -- figuratively speaking, of course -- to his parents' home village in Pakistan. To learn more about the object (accession number AKM707): Bringing online Museum experiences to you is part of our mission to connect cultures and promote understanding between peoples. To learn more about how ...
Gordon Grdina is a guitar/oud player that is constantly reinventing himself while retaining an individual voice. Aside from the GG3, he leads the East Van Strings, Haram, and Sangha. He also records and performs regularly with Dan Mangan and The Crackling. A protégé of jazz great Gary Peacock, he is a well respected contributor to the jazz and world music scenes constantly ...
Explore the outer limits of musical performance and creativity in this one-on-one conversation featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, musician, and performance artist Du Yun and X Avant XV festival co-organizer and Music Gallery artistic associate Olivia Shortt. This wide-ranging discussion will touch upon projects old and new, including Du Yun's Future Traditions initiative, the relationship between collaboration and creativity, and the importance of ...
In front of a statement advocating for Truth and a tapestry detailing the intimate beauty of white noise, Kaie Kellough (spoken word) and Jason Sharp (bari saxophone) give an improvised performance in the Sanctuary exhibition at the Aga Khan Museum. A short preview of their new work UBGNLSWRE (debuting on October 15, 2020), Kellough and Sharp provide an articulated, percussive and unceasing ...
Fusing music and spoken-word poetry, Kaie Kellough and Jason Sharp will wield their percussive avant-jazz sound in a new performance piece they have dreamed up specially for the Aga Khan Museum. Tying into themes from the Museum exhibitions Sanctuary and Don't Ask Me Where I'm From, UBGNLSWRE is a mixed-media performance that combines literature, electronic and acoustic sound, and graphic design by artist ...
Catch the extraordinary resonance of the Aga Khan Museum's courtyard space in an improvised performance by Kaie Kellough (spoken word) and Jason Sharp (bari saxophone). Design as a short preview for their performance of UBGNLSWRE on October 15, 2020, Kellough and Sharp welcome you into the Kafka-esque experience of entering a new space, a new land, a new home, detailing in highly ...
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 second of four, shows viewers a preview of her project titled "The Museum of Everywhere and Nowhere." Recreating a vast survey of objects "collected" throughout her travels and career, Jan ...
Heritage is a complicated subject -- family, place, language, geography, feelings -- they all swirl into one to create an indelible understanding of who it is you are. See here a moving statement from Kaie Kellough's Griffin-prize winning book "Magnetic Equator" performed as part of an improvised presentation with Jason Sharp (bari saxophone). This is a short preview for Sharp and Kellough's ...
Sharpen your knowledge of 18th-century Persian art history with a closer look at Curator Dr. Marika Sardar's object of the week -- a well-travelled gold, jade, and steel dagger in the Museum's Collection. About the object: Accession Number: AKM963 Creator: Faizallah Shushtari Isfahani Place: Iran or Turkey Dimensions: 44.5 cm Date: ca. 1700 Materials and Technique: gold, jade, and steel To learn more: Bringing ...
Take #2 -- A second short preview for their performance of UBGNLSWRE on October 15, 2020, Kaie Kellough (spoken word) and Jason Sharp (bari saxophone) give an improvised performance in the Sanctuary exhibition at the Aga Khan Museum. The long, slow, tones of the saxophone slip into the space, with Kellough's pulsating poetry providing the arcing, rhythmic churn detailing the history of ...
A short preview for their performance of UBGNLSWRE on October 15, 2020, Kaie Kellough (spoken word) and Jason Sharp (bari saxophone) give an improvised performance in the Sanctuary exhibition at the Aga Khan Museum. Intensely focused and driving, the rhythmic pulse of Kellough's poetry is driven along by Sharp's seemingly never-ending wave of arpeggios on the saxophone. ...
Naghmeh Farahmand is a Persian percussionist who comes from a musical family. She is the daughter of one of the leading percussion masters of Iran, Mahmoud Farahmand. Naghmeh grew up surrounded by music in a full house of drums. Naghmeh showed great interest in rhythms during her childhood and started playing the tonbak when she was 6. While learning the rhythmic patterns of ...
Long time Museum Volunteer Jane Liu shares her how the clouds in this Museum painting inspire her and remind her ruyi motif in Chinese art. To learn more about the piece (accession number AKM 165): 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 ...
At first glance, our Curator's Pick this week appears to be a simple yet elegant candlestick from 16th-century Turkey. Its brass surfaces may be muted, but as the Museum's Dr. Filiz Çakır Phillip reveals, the object beams with cultural and religious significance. Learn more about the object (accession number AKM2017.2.1): Bringing online Museum experiences to you is part of our mission to ...
Bio: Robert Simms is an ethnomusicologist and multi-instrumentalist specializing in Middle Eastern and West African traditions. He plays setar (long-necked lute), ney (reed flute), 'oud (short-necked lute), kora (harp), guitar, and various percussion instruments. His research interests include maqam (West Asian modal) repertoires, Mande music (West Africa), improvisation and creative processes. Professor Simms joined the faculty in York University's Department of Music in ...
As 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 first of four, gives viewers a tour of her studio and workspace, and showcases examples of materials, artifacts and projects she's undertaken over the past several years. About the Residency: The ...
Originally scheduled to be a live, in-gallery performance as part of a PA series where artists responded to the themes of the Sanctuary exhibition, the project by SlowPitchSound and Lybido has been reconfigured and reimagined for a COVID-19 reality. Turned into a virtual presentation, this video was conceived by the artists and filmed in the Museum's second-floor galleries in mid-August. "I am a first ...
How does art deepen our collective understanding of the converging global crises we face in the 21st century? Can the arts provide sanctuary for people seeking opportunity in a new country or culture in the age of COVID-19? Explore the interplay between contemporary art, migration, and rapid global change in this talk with two contributors to the Museum's Sanctuary exhibition, Ranu Mukherjee and ...
Museum Educator Lisa Schulte reveals how an object -- an engraved elephant tusk with a silver mount, to be precise -- in the Museum's Collection sparked her fascination with Islamic art. "It was a link between historical, cultural, artistic information that I was familiar... and this new wonderful world of this Islamic art and culture I was about to explore." To learn ...
Our latest Curator's Pick is all about unity. While the illustration, painted in 17th-century India, represents an idyllic wedding scene, the work itself is a marriage of diverse cultural influences and ideas of beauty. Explore the connections with this short video presented by Aga Khan Museum Assistant Curator Bita Pourvash. Go here to learn more about this manuscript painting, a folio from a ...
To view tonight's program, please visit: Connect with us using #lapis2020 Instagram: @agakhanmuseum Facebook: @agakhanmuseumtoronto Twitter: @agakhanmuseum To make a donation using the on-screen QR code, scan it with the Camera on your mobile device. Then click on the link that appears. Donations can also be made through ...
How does making art help a person escape adversity? How can it uplift a community, preserve a culture, counter injustice, or unite a people? Iraqi-born artist Wafaa Bilal has dedicated his career to exploring these questions in his provocative performance and installation art -- including 168:01, which the Aga Khan Museum exhibited in 2018. A former refugee and current professor at New York ...
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 becoming a Friend or Patron, please visit: ...
As humans, we look to art to help unravel -- or at least get perspective on -- the many mysteries of life, from love, to existence, to the astonishing beauty of the natural world. But what happens when the artist turns their gaze to the act of art-making itself? What insights do we glean then? Curator Dr. Michael Chagnon looks for answers in Museum masterpieces, ...
Spoken word, storytelling, dance, music, and poetry from seasoned local artists and new voices explore themes of migration, home, identity, and refuge. T his series complements our Sanctuary exhibition, which examines the right to safe haven through the work of leading contemporary international artists. Singer Maryem Tollar and storyteller Dawne McFarlane create a musical storytelling experience exploring the themes of our Sanctuary ...
Completed in 1399 in what is now India, the Gwalior Qur'an has many features that distinguish it from other Qur'ans in the Museum's Collection. Curator Dr. Marika Sardar delves into the fascinating details in this history-rich short video for the #MuseumWithoutWalls. For more information on the Gwalior Qur'an: Photo credit for the image of the Gwalior Fort: ThinkStock Photos Bringing online Museum experiences to ...
The Public Curates series consists of short videos recorded by Museum visitors, patrons and volunteers. The videos present their personal reflections on and object they have chosen from our Museum Collection. In this video, Bashir Lalani, a long time Museum volunteer, shares his story about the journey that his family took to Canada and how this chestnut leaf with calligraphic composition from the ...
Enter a world of beautiful doors and the wonders that lie just behind them. Join Aga Khan Museum Assistant Curator Bita Pourvash on a door-themed tour of objects in our Collection, starting with a marvellously detailed set of engraved wooden double doors from northern Iraq. For more information on the double doors (accession number AKM707): Bringing online Museum experiences to you is ...
Nourish your mind or feed your body? The Museum's Dr. Marika Sardar serves up examples of 1,100-year-old ceramic dishes from Central Asia that encouraged dinner guests to do both at the same time. Learn more about the making of these objects and the words of wisdom they convey. Click the links to learn more about two of the artifacts featured in the video: ...
Toronto-based musicians and educators Padideh Ahrarnejad and Ali Massoudi have each spent decades studying and performing traditional Persian instruments. Watch the duo's #MuseumWithoutWalls mini-concert to glimpse their masterful command of the language of music. 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 ...
Setting out to conquer the Persian Empire in 334 BC, Alexander the Great lamented that no poet would narrate his history and adventures. Yet, more than 1,000 years later, Alexander was re-identified as "Iskandar" by Persia's two greatest epic poets: Firdausi and Nizami. Join historian and professor Dr. Michael Barry as he bridges the concepts of art, mysticism, and poetry in this ...
