Toronto’s Aga Khan Museum is celebrating its tenth anniversary. And when I was recently invited for an anniversary visit, which would include a talk by the museum’s Director and CEO Dr. Ulrike Al-Khamis, it struck me how little I knew about the facility.
Of course, I knew it to be a museum of Muslim cultures. And I was aware of its physical presence: the white marble structure became visible from the Don Valley Parkway a decade ago. I had even visited it for two excellent arts performances, which had shown me the Museum’s physical beauty up close: the reflecting pool, the trees, and the building’s interior, centered around the dynamic and serene light-filled open courtyard.
But imagining the larger museum as a dusty repository of Islamic art and artifacts, I conceived it as a place of only transitory interest that I might visit at some undefined future time . . . but which I felt no special urgency about. Perhaps I would find curiosities and beauty there, but as a non-Muslim, I assumed they would be fundamentally disconnected from my own experiences.
Wrong.
Visiting – really visiting — the Aga Khan Museum for its tenth anniversary was a revelation. It pulled back the curtain on the contents of this underappreciated Toronto treasure chest. What I found there spoke to me powerfully about both our uniqueness and connection, dazzled me with beauty, and challenged me to see, to listen, and to think in new ways.
So if you’re like me – someone who hasn’t yet taken the time to really visit this gem – let’s see if I can pique your interest in checking it out before the museum’s eleventh year begins next September.
For starters: why is the Aga Khan Museum here?
The answer to this question is delicious proof that more than one contradictory-seeming thing can be true at once. In a nutshell, the museum safeguards and spotlights artifacts and ideas from diverse Muslim civilizations, and celebrates their contributions to science, culture and history. At exactly the same time, the museum seeks to promote pluralism and foster intercultural dialogue.
This is true because the Aga Khan, who originated the concept of the museum, is the leader of a Muslim community. And in the words of Dr. Al-Khamis, ”unlike other leaders, his nation, in a sense, is the world”. So cultural connection is at the heart of the Museum’s mission, which is “to increase and illuminate the dialogue between different Muslim civilizations – because there’s even a lack of knowledge among and between Muslims themselves – and then between those civilizations and non-Muslim civilizations.”
And ultimately, “even more importantly, the museum, as the Aga Khan himself said, will aim to contribute to a deeper understanding among cultures and to strengthening of pluralism, which is essential to peace and to progress in our world.”
So if you’re of Islamic faith, this place is for you. If, like me, you’re not . . . this place is also for you.
The Museum and the larger site are proof of this dual truth
At one end of the site is the striking pyramid-like structure of The Ismaili Centre Toronto, which is both gathering place and community space for prayer and social, educational and cultural activities for Muslims. “But the interesting thing here,” Dr. Al-Khamis notes, “is that it was built by a Christian Indian architect” named Charles Correa to respond to the traditions of Islamic architecture in a contemporary design.
The 17-acre Aga Khan Park connects the Ismaili Centre to the Museum. It “takes inspiration from gardens across Muslim cultures, but incorporates all indigenous Canadian flora and fauna, and was created by a Serbian Lebanese landscape architect called Vladimir Durovich.”
And the Museum itself was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Fumihiko Maki.
Pluralism in action. “How very Canadian”, smiles Dr. Al-Khamis.
The museum building is itself an absolutely stunning work of art. Inspired by His Highness the Aga Khan’s vision of “light” as a guiding force, Maki created a structure that celebrates the interplay of light and shadow. As sunlight moves across the building’s surfaces, you can sense the architectural intention to symbolize the openness of knowledge and cultural exchange. The white granite exterior, along with the tranquil reflecting pools, evokes a feeling of serenity.
And that exterior becomes a “locus for creativity every year, between Christmas and New Years, at the most miserable time of the year” when Light Up the Dark illuminates it with a 30-minute series of digital art projections that are designed through collaboration among Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) students and the Museum’s collections and performing arts division.
In short, form exquisitely matches function. The building embodies the museum’s ethos: an invitation to all, regardless of background, to explore the intersections of culture and history.
The permanent collection is dust-free . . . and sets objects free to tell their stories
We sometimes think of a Museum’s permanent collection as its least interesting feature: a collection of dusty older artifacts that feel more distant and uninteresting as time passes.
The permanent collection at the Aga Khan Museum has been curated and “redisplayed”, in order to thwart that feeling and “respond to our audience needs.” It features a high-quality, internationally renowned Islamic art collection of over 1,000 pieces that range from textiles, ceramics, and manuscripts to scientific instruments and architectural elements.
Of course “the definition for Islamic art”, notes Dr. Al-Khamis, was “invented by Western scholars and academics in the late nineteenth, early twentieth century”, And that oversimplification – which my uninformed expectations about the Museum aligned with – gives the Museum curators and staff this “opportunity — and a passion — to work on deconstructing that, and actually giving a much more inclusive and authentic definition”.
And this is true – because when you spend time considering individual objects in the collection, you again have that remarkable experience of holding the Museum’s two truths in your mind at the same time. On one hand, you understand and appreciate an individual artifact as an instance of Islamic culture. At the same time, the artifact frequently feels like a conversation between different cultures.
Individual objects tell stories of cultural migration and accretion. To cite just two larger examples, the 11th-century astrolabe, once used to navigate the stars and determine prayer times in Islamic societies, features inscriptions in Latin, Arabic and Hebrew – reflecting diverse cultural and religious interactions in medieval al-Andalus, where Muslims, Jews and Christians co-existed. And Opticae Thesaurus, a Latin translation of Ibn al-Haytham’s groundbreaking work on optics, highlights the Islamic world’s crucial contributions to global scientific knowledge.
These objects demonstrate how art and science from Muslim civilizations influenced and intertwined with European thought during the Middle Ages, destabilizing rigid distinctions between cultures. And many of the smaller objects – like the various Chinese porcelains valued in the Mughal empire, which highlight the cultural exchange between China and India – prove same the point in the fascinating paths they have traced before finding their way into the Museum.
And to ensure that visitors like me cannot miss this point, Dr. Al-Khamis explains how “in that gallery, we will always have an intervention in the center: often contemporary art that is in dialogue with the artworks on display”. This further cross-temporal and cross-cultural dialogue “helps to underscore the point that historic artworks are not dusty and boring and irrelevant. They all have stories to tell that are still relevant: timelessly relevant and universally relevant. We just need to set the objects free and allow them to tell their stories, in line with what we need and want to hear at this point in time.”
The temporary exhibitions dazzle: to wit – Light: Visionary Perspectives
Beyond the permanent collection, which Dr. Al-Khamis describes as “our engine, our catalyst, our conversation starter”, the staff of the museum regularly design multiple temporary exhibitions. These further support the museum’s dual mission by bringing new energy, colours and textures into the building. As but one exquisite example, Light: Visionary Perspectives (on display until April 21, 2025) is a dynamic exploration of the power of light, both literal and metaphorical. As such, Dr. Al-Khamis explains, it exists “in direct response to our founder’s vision, but also to remind all of us that when we see, we need to see not only with the eyes, but with our minds and with our hearts”. This exhibition brings together a range of contemporary artists from diverse cultural backgrounds, each engaging with light in innovative ways. For example:
- Anish Kapoor’s mirrored installations, which distort and transform light, are immersive and challenge the viewer’s perception of space.
- Anila Quayyum Agha’s work, A Thousand Silent Moments (Rain Forest), uses intricate patterns and shadows to create an ethereal environment that speaks to the spiritual and transformative nature of light.
- Indigenous artist Tannis Nielsen contributes a mesmerizing piece inspired by the Anishnaabe creation story, incorporating light glitches that hint at the ongoing creative forces of the universe, even as they echo the remnants of the Big Bang.
Each piece is a stunningly modern, colourful and immersive revelation. Another instance of the cross-cultural dialogue at the heart of the museum, this art is not bound by geography or religion, but instead speaks to universal experiences that transcend boundaries.
And if all that’s not enough, the museum is also an active cultural hub!
Beyond the permanent collection and temporary exhibitions, the Aga Khan Museum is consistently abuzz with cultural programming. Examples include free community events, such as the EnlighTEN festival, a recent highlight that combined music, light installations, and family activities, emphasizing the museum’s commitment to being a space for all.
BMO Free Wednesdays encourage even broader access, by making it easy for families, students, and curious visitors to experience the art and heritage on offer. And the museum’s dedication to educational outreach also stands out. Its workshops and tours, aligned with the Ontario curriculum, make it a significant resource for teachers and students alike, fostering an appreciation of art and culture from an early age.
My closing pitch, as an Aga Khan Museum convert
Currently celebrating its tenth anniversary, the Aga Khan Museum sparks wonder, curiosity, and a deeper understanding of Muslim cultures and their connection with other cultures. It also reminds us that art is a bridge that connects people across time and place. This is a place where traditions meet, dialogue flourishes – and where we are invited to reflect on our shared humanity through the prism of artistic expression.
In case it’s not obvious, my day at the Aga Khan Museum floored me — and flooded me with an unexpected and synaesthetic torrent of insights, experiences and emotions. Even more surprising to me, it taught me that a Museum itself can be alive and engaged: an active force in the promotion of a more pluralistic and enlightened society.
I failed to visit the Museum for its first ten years because I had literally no idea about all of these riches that it offers.
I’ve just taken that reason away from you . . . so it’s time for you to visit.
Really visit.
© Scott Sneddon, Sesaya Arts Magazine, 2024
