V&A in the Middle East

Collections & Galleries

The V&A has one of the world’s greatest collections of Islamic art, formed over a period of 150 years. Acquisitions began when the Museum was opened to the public in 1852, because its founders believed that the principles they detected in Islamic art could provide an excellent model for reforming British design.

The V&A holds over 19,000 items from the Middle East and North Africa, ranging from the early Islamic period (the 7th century) to the early 20th century. The collections include holdings of metalwork, ceramics, architectural woodwork and textiles, in particular from Iran, and also from Turkey, Egypt, Iraq, Syria and the countries of North Africa. The ceramics collection is internationally the most important and comprehensive of its kind.

The collection, which is now valued for what it tells us about a great civilisation, was given new prominence by the establishment of a dedicated Middle Eastern section in 2002 and the opening of the splendid Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art in 2006. It houses over 400 objects that date from the great days of the Islamic caliphate of the 8th and 9th centuries to the years preceding the First World War. The area covered stretches from Spain in the west to Uzbekistan and Afghanistan in the east, taking in important centres of artistic production in the Arab lands, Turkey and Iran. The highlight of the Jameel Gallery is the Ardabil Carpet, the world's oldest dated carpet and one of the largest, most beautiful and historically important in the world.

The Museum also holds the world’s largest collection of European images of the Middle East, which is housed in the Word and Image Department. The most recent publication of these is Charles Newton’s Images of the Ottoman Empire, which has both English and Arabic editions. The Word and Image and Asian Departments also have growing collections of contemporary work by artists from the Middle East.

Exhibitions

V&A presence in the Middle East is an exciting development as an increasing number of venues have hosted or expressed an interest in displaying V&A touring exhibitions.

World Ceramics: Masterpieces from the Victoria and Albert Museum, a touring exhibition of over 100 highlights from the V&A ceramics collections, was the first major exhibition to display in the Middle East in Damascus, in celebration of Damascus Arab Capital of Culture 2008. It was made possible by generous sponsorship from Shell Syria. It then travelled to Istanbul (with additional funding from the British Council and individual donors), where it was very postively received. This initial success encouraged further opportunities with venues in the Middle East.

During the redevelopment of the Jameel Gallery, highlights from the collection formed the exhibition Palace and Mosque, which toured to Washington DC, Texas, Tokyo, and other venues in 2004 and 2005, attracting 271,000 visits.

The V&A touring exhibition Ikats from the Rau Collection and the V&A's own collection travelled to the Azerbaijan State Museum of Art, with the support from the Azerbaijan Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Light from the Middle East, an exhibition of contemporary Middle Eastern photography, will open at the V&A in November 2012. The show is based on collections in this field formed by the V&A and the British Museum with generous support from The Art Fund. An international tour is planned.

Owen Jones: Islamic Design, Discovery and Vision. Owen Jones (1809–1874) was the visionary architect and designer who saw Islamic art as a key model for contemporary design and convinced the founders of the V&A to collect in this field. This travelling exhibition of Jones’s explorations of Islamic design will be on display at Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilisation (UAE) from March 2012.

The British Council has provided critical local advice for all these touring exhibitions, and is a vital network of support for all our work in the Middle East.

The Jameel Prize

A related project is the Jameel Prize, a biennial award to an artist or designer for work inspired by Islamic tradition.

The Jameel Prize, an international prize for a contemporary work inspired by Islamic traditions of craft and design, was first awarded at the V&A in July 2009. This vibrant exhibition has since embarked on an an extensive tour in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, Sharjah, Turkey and Morocco. All of the shortlisted artists have roots in the Middle East or South Asia, and Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon and Iran are all represented.

The Jameel Prize is generously supported by Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel, who conceived the idea after providing the financial support for the renovation of the V&A’s Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art. Works by the ten artists short-listed for Jameel Prize 2011 were displayed at the V&A from July to September 2011, before touring to Europe and North America. The tour is in partnership with Abdul Latif Jameel Community Initiatives, and additional funding for public programme events was provided by the World Collections Programme.

Relationships

The extensive touring programme has encouraged relationships with a number of museums and cultural organisations in the Middle East and in London. This has resulted in the V&A playing an advisory role to a number of museums and cultural organisations in the Middle East, on aspects of museum management such as collections, branding, programming, web, training and education.

The V&A runs many courses on Islamic art and design, including a year-long, one-day-a-week course on the Arts of Asia, 1500–1900. The first term covers the art and architecture of the Middle East.

The V&A and the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) in Doha have exchanged loans on a regular basis since the Qatari museum opened in 2008. The V&A loaned the MIA an outstanding example of Fatimid lustre ware for its opening exhibition, Beyond Boundaries, and 14 objects from the V&A will be seen there in the Gifts of the Sultan exhibition in 2012. The MIA lent important items to the Maharaja exhibition, which was seen at the V&A in 2009–10 and is touring to venues until 2012.

In July 2011, the V&A hosted the launch of Shubbak: A Window on Contemporary Arab Culture, London’s first-ever celebration of contemporary culture from across the Arab world, presented by the Mayor of London. The Museum also participated in the festival, providing family events associated with the Jameel Prize 2011.

In 2009, V&A colleagues contributed to a four day museum management seminar held in Damascus, supported by the World Collections Programme. Strategic management, learning programmes, interpretation, visitor research, outreach, partnerships, volunteers and the web were all discussed. A second seminar was held in Istanbul to coincide with the World Ceramics exhibition at the Pera Museum in late May 2009.

The Norouz Friday Late is being supported by Iran Heritage Foundation, and will also include a contemporary artist funded by a residency with Delfina and Magic of Persia, and a sound artist residency sponsored by Exhibition Road Cultural Group.

We receive further support from private individuals, whose generosity enables us to enrich the V&A’s collections and our knowledge of them.

Publications

The V&A has been publishing work on Middle Eastern subjects since 1876. Since 2004, V&A publications have included the following:

• Tim Stanley, Palace and Mosque, (2004 and 2006 editions)
• Rosemary Crill and Tim Stanley, eds, The Making of the Jameel Gallery, (2006)
• Charles Newton, Images of the Ottoman Empire, (2007)
• Mariam Rosser-Owen, Islamic Arts from Spain, (2010)
• Patricia Baker and Jennifer Wearden, Iranian Textiles, (2010)