The Aga Khan Museum in Toronto

[sofiya]

In a message dated 9/20/2005 12:33:46 AM Central Daylight Time, HKKM writes:


[HKKM. Recd from Azim Velji]

Sep. 18, 2005. 01:00 AM
TorontoStar
www.thestar.com

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Building new heritage is right choice for city
In any major city such as Toronto, there are inevitable clashes at times between old and new, between those who want to preserve and those who want to build. And, in virtually every case, there is no clear right or wrong choice.

That will be the dilemma that Toronto City Council will face later this month when it is asked to declare a 40-year-old office building a heritage site, which means it could not be torn down. But if the council turns down the request, then the building will be demolished and a massive $200 million project funded entirely by private money will go ahead on the site.

The building in question sits on a hillside at 59 Wynford Drive, near the northeast corner of the intersection at the Don Valley Parkway and Eglinton Avenue East. The building, completed in 1965, is the former world headquarters of the Bata Shoe company.

In 2002, the site was sold to part of the Aga Khan's network of foundations and projects.

The Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of Ismaili Muslims, wants to erect two buildings on the site and an adjoining property purchased in 1996. The structures have been designed by world famous architects.

The Aga Khan Museum would house Islamic art and artifacts and be the first of its kind in the English-speaking world. Many of the works would come from the Aga Khan's personal collection and have been in his family for centuries. It would also host art exhibitions, performing arts, lectures and seminars .

Nearby would be the Ismaili Centre, a place of worship as well as a place for social, educational and cultural events.

Surrounding the buildings would be seven hectares of formal gardens, fountains and two kilometres of walking trails.

Total cost of the project, which would start next year and be completed by 2009, is $200 million, all of it paid by the Aga Khan and the Canadian Ismaili Muslim community.

But the project may not proceed unless the Bata building is torn down. The project's backers say it is impossible to take a 1960s-era office building and integrate it into an Islamic-design place of worship and culture.

In May, the Toronto Preservation Board, which advises city council, recommended the Bata building for designation as a heritage site "for its cultural resource value or interests."

It claimed the building, which was "inspired" by an office building in Connecticut, is an example of the Modern Movement in architecture. The committee said the building is also "historically notable" for its association with Bata.

On Monday, the issue goes before the North York community council. The full Toronto City Council will consider it Sept. 28.

Unfortunately, the council will have to decide between two heritages; one from the 1960s that sits empty; and the other which is touted as part of the current renaissance of celebrated architecture in Toronto — the Royal Ontario Museum, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Opera House and the Gardiner Museum.

True, the Bata building may have some historical significance, but there are many other examples of Modern Movement architecture in Toronto.

In its deliberations, the council should reflect deeply on the implications of the Ismaili project being in Toronto. As envisioned, the centre seems fully in step with the vibrant multicultural nature of the Greater Toronto Area as it is today.

The centre could also become an international symbol of the diversity and tolerance that should be Toronto's hallmark.

Thus, in this tussle between two cultural assets, councillors must ask themselves this basic question: Do you preserve heritage or do you build it?

In this case, we say the answer is clear: Build it.

[sassy]

Today, Wed sept 28é05 , the City of toronto has approved the building of high profile j.k and muesem in toronto and have approved the demolition of the bata building

[Aeesta]

Thanks for the update. Mubaraki to all and Sukar Mowla.

Does anyone know when the project will complete?

[Guest]

expected  date of completion of both project is 2009

[sofiya]

Bata building can be torn down
City removes obstacle for Aga Khan centre

Group hopes to break ground next year
PAUL MOLONEY
CITY HALL BUREAU

The proposed Aga Khan museum and spiritual centre in Don Mills cleared a
major hurdle when city council decided the organization doesn't have to
preserve the modernist Bata building on the site.
Toronto city councillors received a standing ovation from project
supporters yesterday when they decided the 1965-vintage headquarters of the
former Bata shoe empire on Wynford Dr. can be demolished to make way for
the Aga Khan centre, dubbed Wynford Park.
The 36-1 vote means plans can proceed on schedule to open the spiritual
centre in 2008 and museum a year later on the sprawling 7-hectare site, of
which three-quarters is to be green space with 2 kilometres devoted to
public walking trails.
"We get back to designing and getting on with development of the site,"
said Firoz Rasul, a project spokesman. "We need site plan approval as soon
as we're able to and hopefully break ground some time next year."
Earlier, Councillor Cliff Jenkins proposed that the Aga Khan organization
be asked to hand over $150,000 to pay for a study on ways to protect other
modernist buildings in Toronto, constructed from the 1930s to the 1970s.
But other councillors noted that the city doesn't normally ask non-profit
groups for cash contributions, and the motion was defeated 21-16.
Jenkins (Ward 25, Don Valley West) spoke glowingly of the group's plans.
"It will truly be a jewel in Toronto's cap," he said. "It is an
extraordinary development that will put Toronto on the map and we very much
appreciate the Aga Khan Foundation identifying Toronto as an appropriate
site for this investment."
The only dissenter was Councillor Gay Cowbourne, who argued that part of
the original building could be incorporated in the new design.
"I don't believe this building has to be torn down," said Cowbourne (Ward
44, Scarborough East).
"We have to say these are important heritage buildings and we should be
preserving them.

[xenon_ajani17]

Heritage is built
Bata shud b torn down

[electronic]

where will it be located ? is it in downtown?

[hari]

where will it be located ? is it in downtown?

The new Ismaili Centre and Aga Khan Museum are to be located approximately 15km from Toronto's core downtown area. The site is currently accessible by public transportation and will Insh'Allah be implemented into the "MoveOntario 2020" Eglinton Crosstown Corridor which will connect Toronto's Pearson International Airport to the Ismaili Centre, Aga Khan Museum and beyond...

[kmaherali]

The Aga Khan Museum, Toronto:
Complete Publication May 8, 2009
Posted by ismailimail in ArchNet, Books, Canada, Museum, North America.
trackback

The Aga Khan Museum in Focus

The Aga Khan Museum, which is scheduled to open in Canada in 2011, receives detailed treatment in a recently released book by Philip Jodidio. The Aga Khan Museum, Toronto covers the architecture and gardens that define the space, elaborates on the aims of the museum, and includes a preview of the collections and exhibitions that will fill the galleries. Renderings of the museum and landscape design, along with photographs of select art pieces intended for display, accompany the text.

ArchNet is proud to present The Aga Khan Museum, Toronto in its entirety within the Publications section of the Digital Library.

News: http://archnet.org/news/view.jsp?news_id=17421
Download Publication in PDF: http://archnet.org/library/documents/on ... t_id=10641

http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2009/0 ... blication/

[kmaherali]

The Aga Khan is building a futuristic spiritual centre and a museum for Islamic antiquities in North York


Image credit: Aga Khan courtesy of Vladimir Djurovic; Landscape Architecture/Moriyama and Teshima Architects

http://www.torontolife.com/features/50- ... ?pageno=34

[kmaherali]

Banbury - Don Mills

Don Mills feels as comfortable and safe as a favourite cardigan. To stroll its winding streets, still replete with post-war housing of the ’50s and ’60s, is to enter a time warp. The modernist architectural flourishes of the day still dominate: steeply peaked roofs, multi-dimensional façades, sleek carports. Unlike the suburbs that came after it, the neighbourhood features an immense variety of housing styles and, perhaps more importantly, the acknowledgement of the natural landscape in home construction—mature trees abound; glimpses of the surrounding ravines are common. In the north, some of Banbury’s homes seem part and parcel of the scenery. The majority of the area remains pedestrian and bike friendly, and the troubled Sheppard subway line, opened in 2002, provided long-needed (if still underutilized) TTC access. The Don Mills Shopping Centre, which has long been a kind of town square, is being redeveloped by Cadillac Fairview. Set to reopen in fall, this controversial mixed-use “lifestyle centre”—featuring chef Mark McEwan’s very first self-branded grocery store—will be called simply the Shops at Don Mills. An entirely different kind of development, the Aga Khan’s new $200-million Ismaili Muslim community centre begins construction at Eglinton and Don Mills later this year and is scheduled to open sometime in 2011.

http://www.torontolife.com/guide/real-e ... don-mills/

[kmaherali]

RELIGIOUS BLDG, COMMUNITY CENTRE, PUBLIC PARK Proj: 9063507-12
North York, Metro Toronto Reg ON NEGOTIATED/PLANS COMPLETE
Ismali Centre Phase One, 59 Wynford Dr, M3C 1K3
$13,800,000 est
Start: March, 2010 Complete: December, 2012

Note: Owner's Rep is determining the phasing and costing strategies for individual projects in this phase and Phase Two, report number 9018060. Construction Manager has been secured. Const Mgr is reviewing Sub trade pricing for Phases One and Two. All trade pricing will be secured late 2009. Sub trades will be awarded for both phases as construction proceeds. Awards will be announced when costing and schedules have been finalized. Owner has yet to determine if phases One and Two may be built concurrently. Further update Spring, 2010.
Project: concrete foundation, cast-in-place concrete structural frame, fuel fired heating system, proposed construction of an 80,000 sq ft Ismali social and cultural facility. This project will include a prayer hall and rooms for community services. Phase Two; the Aga Khan Museum can be followed under report number 9018060.
Scope: 80,000 square feet; 2 storeys; 17 acres
Development: New
Category: Public bldgs; Religious bldgs; Misc engineering
Demolition cont Complete information is available to subscribers. Click HERE to find out how to subscribe.
Const manager Complete information is available to subscribers. Click HERE to find out how to subscribe.
Architect Complete information is available to subscribers. Click HERE to find out how to subscribe.
Structural cons eng Complete information is available to subscribers. Click HERE to find out how to subscribe.
Mechanical cons eng Complete information is available to subscribers. Click HERE to find out how to subscribe.
Electrical cons eng Complete information is available to subscribers. Click HERE to find out how to subscribe.
Owner's representative Complete information is available to subscribers. Click HERE to find out how to subscribe.
First report Tue May 15, 2007. Last report Tue Jul 28, 2009.
This report Mon Nov 02, 2009.
SPECIAL SECTIONS

Building Envelope

Concrete

Engineering

Green Building

Heavy Equipment

O H & S

Professional Services

Roadbuilding

Skills Training

Steel

Trade Contracting

Water & Wastewater


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[kmaherali]

Vanbots has a long history of successfully delivering construction projects including the Michael Lee Chin Crystal at the Royal Ontario Museum ($230 million, 500,000 square ft of new/renovated space), the vertical expansion of Sunnybrook Health Sciences, M Wing ($140 million, 290,000 square ft addition above an existing operating hospital), Bramalea City Centre expansion and retrofit ($102 million) and starting shortly, the Aga Khan Museum and Ismaili Centre ($240 million).

http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2009 ... 26.32a.pdf

[kmaherali]

Video: The Aga Khan Museum in Toronto

Aga Khan Museum

10mns 40secs (87MB)

The Aga Khan Museum, which will open in Toronto, Canada in 2013, will house collections of approximately 1000 items of Islamic art collected by His Highness the Aga Khan and members of his family over the last two decades.

http://www.akdn.org/podcasts.asp?id=878

[kmaherali]

Aga Khan Museum (AKM)

The Aga Khan Museum, due to open in 2013 in Toronto, Canada, will be dedicated to the acquisition, preservation and display of artefacts - from various periods and geographies - relating to the intellectual, cultural, artistic and religious heritage of Islamic communities.

An architectural rendering of the future Aga Khan Museum in Toronto.Planned as a venue for large international exhibitions, the 10,000 square meter building designed by the Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki will house its permanent collection as well as major temporary exhibitions. Surrounded by a large landscaped park, the Museum will provide a forum for permanent exchanges between the Islamic and Western worlds. It will also be a major centre for education and research and for the discovery of the musical heritage of the Islamic world.

The Museum’s collection contains some of the world’s most important masterpieces of Islamic art, including the famous collection of miniatures and manuscripts created by the late Prince Sadruddin and his wife Princess Catherine, and objects in stone, wood, ivory and glass, metalwork, ceramics, rare works on paper and parchment. Covering over one thousand years of history, they create an overview of the artistic accomplishments of Muslim civilisations from the Iberian Peninsula to China. His Highness the Aga Khan’s personal commitment to the objectives of the Museum will keep the collection growing in size and importance.

Specific educational programmes on Muslim history, arts and culture will make the Museum a unique space in North America. It will be an institution dedicated to disseminating knowledge of Islamic civilisations through outreach to the widest public - school children, students, adults and families, as well as researchers, including educational resources via the web. The building will house a large auditorium with lecture, film and concert programmes, as well as a library offering direct access to specialised documentation and information from virtual sources.
The Museum’s temporary exhibitions, which will be developed in partnership with key international partners, will spotlight the diversity of Islamic arts and cultures. They will be major events that will attract the public from the densely populated areas in a 300-mile radius of Toronto. This area contains more than 76 million people.

Beyond the traditional presentation of major periods of Muslim history, original approaches will include, for example, the relationships between Islam and other cultures and the evolution of arts, sciences, religion, literature, or music in a Muslim context.

http://www.akdn.org/aktc_museums.asp#toronto

[kmaherali]

Aga Khan Museum Collection reflects pluralism of the Muslim world and shared human heritage

European in style, this enamelled gold compendium was created for the Qajar court of 19th century Iran. It reflects both a taste for luxury and an interest in scientific knowledge. Photo: Courtesy of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture

For almost 3 000 years, merchants, artists, mystics and philosophers travelled along the Silk Road — a network linking Asia with the Mediterranean world, including Europe and North Africa. They traded in goods, shared cultural traditions and exchanged ideas and knowledge along the way.

After the 7th century, Silk Road trade routes were increasingly frequented by Muslims who were eager to expand their intellectual horizons and build on the knowledge of other civilisations. Interactions among Muslim and non-Muslim societies thrived, resulting in some of the most magnificent intellectual and artistic expressions ever conceived. Centuries of engagement had an impact, and plurality became an undeniable feature of these societies.

Showcasing the diversity of the Muslim world
“The 1 428 years of the ummah (Muslim community) embrace many civilisations, and are therefore characterised by an astonishing pluralism,” said Mawlana Hazar Imam in an address at the Louvre Museum in October 2007. Speaking about the forthcoming Aga Khan Museum, and its Collection, Hazar Imam added: “This geographic, ethnic, linguistic and religious pluralism has manifested itself at the most defining moments in the history of the ummah, hence the objective of the Aga Khan [Museum] Collection, which is to highlight objects drawn from every region and every period, and created from every kind of material in the Muslim world.”


Created for the Chinese Muslim communities or made for export circa 1506-21, this dish comes from Jiangxi Province, China. The inscriptions on the dish read “Purity”, “Blessed is he who purifies his hand from wrongdoing”, and “Ablution upon ablution is light upon light”. Photo: Courtesy of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture

Some 1 000 pieces make up the Aga Khan Museum Collection — a portion of which was assembled by Mawlana Hazar Imam’s late uncle, Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, and his wife, Princess Catherine Aga Khan, with much of the rest acquired by Hazar Imam himself over a period of two decades. The Collection has been travelling across Europe since 2007, carrying with it — not unlike the Silk Road travellers of centuries past — knowledge and ideas about different peoples, cultures and faith traditions. A succession of exhibitions have appeared at renowned museums and exhibition spaces in Parma, London, Paris, Lisbon, Toledo, Madrid and Barcelona. Currently, pieces of the Collection are on display at Berlin’s Martin-Gropius-Bau, and the exhibition is set to travel to Istanbul, Turkey, where it will be on display from October 2010 to January 2011.

The artefacts tell a story of Islam’s many accomplishments, from art and faith to science and literature. “Each object is not only a pretty thing, but usually has many layers of meaning from a historical point of view,” explained Benoît Junod, Director of Museums and Exhibitions at the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. Their geographical origins vary, and include the Iberian Peninsula and the Mediterranean, and reach as far as China. Cast in wood, stone, metals, ivory, ceramics, parchment and textiles, each piece testifies to the cross-cultural influences of Islam as it mingled with societies around the world.

A conduit for understanding and dialogue


Folios from De Materia Medica (Iraq, circa 1200). First translated into Syriac and then into Arabic, the work became a widely used manuscript for Islamic studies of pharmacology. Photo: Courtesy of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture

In the catalogue of the Collection’s Spirit and Life exhibition held in London in 2007, Luis Monreal, General Manager of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture notes: “The developing political crises of the last few years, and the large numbers of Muslims emigrating to the West, have revealed — often dramatically — the considerable lack of knowledge of the Muslim world and development of Muslim artistic traditions.”

The Muslim world of the Middle Ages served as a conduit for knowledge between the era of the ancient Greeks and Romans, and the European Renaissance. Classical texts were translated to Arabic and Persian, their ideas were integrated into Muslim modes of thinking, and the knowledge they proffered was augmented by Muslim scientists and philosophers.

An Arabic translation of De Materia Medica, a pharmacological compendium by Greek physician Dioscorides, speaks to the continuity of knowledge across civilisations. Visitors to the Collection exhibitions can also view rare historical works such as Ibn Sina’s (Avicena) Canon of Medicine, a formative medical text that was used in Europe for over 500 years, and is the basis of modern medicine. Together with other artefacts like a Ming Dynasty ablutions bowl from China, the Collection recounts a history based on cultural evidence that brings together communities, which at first glance, would have seemed unlikely to be linked.

At its highest level of interpretation, art conveys not only the physical manifestation at hand, but also the tradition from which it emerges. It offers the possibility of shaping relationships between peoples. On accepting the Royal Toledo Foundation Award in 2006, Mawlana Hazar Imam expressed the importance of art for the collective history of humankind. He noted that conservation of our cultural heritage “can play a central role in helping different civilisations understand each other, to appreciate how mutually enriching their historic interactions have been, and contributions of each to the common heritage of humanity.”

A new home in Toronto
The Collection will ultimately find its permanent home at the Aga Khan Museum being established in Toronto. The first museum of its kind in North America, it has specifically been designed to showcase the art of the Muslim world. Its foundation ceremony is expected to take place at the end of May.

At the opening of The Path of Princes exhibition at the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon on 13 March 2008, Prince Amyn expressed his aspirations for the Museum: “The Aga Khan Museum will help visitors to look on other human beings in other parts of the world with more comprehension. Ideally, a museum should allow those who view its collections to increase their knowledge. Every increase in knowledge increases one’s understanding.”

Toronto — and indeed North America — has become home to a growing Muslim community, whose diversity is reflective of the broad plurality of traditions, interpretations and cultures that constitute the ummah. The cosmopolitan ethic of Toronto and Canada’s pluralist values provide a suitable backdrop for the new Museum and its Collection.

Like the caravans that criss-crossed the Silk Road centuries ago, museums and their collections have become crucibles of cross-cultural dialogue that can create greater understanding among peoples. In showcasing the artefacts of the Muslim world, the Aga Khan Museum will foster a greater appreciation of our collective human heritage and shared history.


This Qur’an bifolium is written in gold kufic script on blue parchment. Created by the Fatimids during their rule in Kairouan, it is considered to be one of the most lavish Qur’anic scripts ever created. Photo: Courtesy of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture

http://www.theismaili.org/cms/999/Aga-K ... n-heritage

[kmaherali]

The Aga Khan Museum - Online Gallery

http://www.akdn.org/museum/

Find out more
About the Aga Khan Museum

The Aga Khan Museum, due to open in 2013 in Toronto, Canada, will be dedicated to the acquisition, preservation and display of artefacts - from various periods and geographies - relating to the intellectual, cultural, artistic and religious heritage of Islamic communities. It will also house the collections of the members of the family of the Aga Khan.
Find out more
Collections & Research

The Aga Khan Museum contains some of the most celebrated Islamic Art in the world. Click here for a database that allows you to search through the collection for information on its contents.
View Collections
Museum & Exhibitions

Art works from the Museum’s collection have been exhibited in a number of venues. Click here for more information on past, present and future exhibitions, including access to catalogues of each event.
View Museum & Exhibitions
View Catalogues
Resources & Links

Click here for related essays, news, links and other resources regarding the museum, exhibitions and Islamic art in general.
View Resources & Links

© 2007 The Aga Khan Development Network. This is the only authorised Website of the Aga Khan Development Network.

Unless specifically stated, extracts (other than photographs) may be reproduced without further permission, with due acknowledgment.

[kmaherali]

Toronto to house only Islamic art museum in North America
May 26, 2010

Noor Javed

Artist's rendering of the Wynford Dr. Aga Khan Museum project which will include an Ismaili centre and park. The project is being designed by Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki.

http://www.thestar.com/printarticle/815031

The artistic pieces have graced the homes of Mughal emperors, adorned the gardens of Persian palaces and educated the masses of the Muslim world.

Soon, over 1,000 years of Islamic art and culture will find a permanent home in Toronto.

The groundbreaking for the Aga Khan Museum, the first in North America solely devoted to Islamic art, will take place on Friday near Don Mills Rd. and Eglinton Ave. E. The museum will be built alongside an Ismaili centre and park on a 7-hectare site at 49 Wynford Dr.

More than 1,000 Islamic artifacts from China to the Iberian Peninsula will be showcased — with 200 on permanent display — when the museum opens in 2013.

The pieces, which come from the collection of the Aga Khan family, already have more air miles than most Canadians. They have been featured in museums around the world from London to Madrid. Before they settle in Toronto, they will be exhibited in Istanbul and five other cities in the Muslim world.

The Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, will arrive Friday to put a shovel in the ground and give his blessings to the $300 million project

“While some North American museums have significant collections of Muslim art, there is no institution devoted to Islamic art,” he said. “In building the museum in Toronto, we intend to introduce a new actor to the North American art scene. Its fundamental aim will be an educational one, to actively promote knowledge of Islamic arts and culture.”

The 10,000-square-foot building will be designed by Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki, who is also working on the expansion of the United Nations building and Tower 4 at the former World Trade Center site.

“This project will help to bridge the clash of ignorance,” said Amyn Sayani, a volunteer with the Ismaili Council for Canada. “This is very much an opportunity for people to dialogue and to bridge different cultures and faiths.”

A sampling of the art coming to town:

Manuscript of the Canon of Medicine by Ibn Sina, Iran or Mesopotamia, c. 1052: This manuscript is considered to be one of the most important collections of medieval medical knowledge in the Islamic world. It was used in the 12th and 13th centuries by medical schools in Europe, almost until the beginning of modern times. The document to be displayed is the fifth book, focusing on drugs and pharmacy.

• Emerald green bottle, Iran, Safavid dynasty, 17th century: The Islamic world, mainly due to proximity, has always had close ties to the Chinese world. This bottle was made to imitate Chinese ceramics, in both colour and appearance.

• Portrait of Sultan Selim, Turkey, c. 1570: A large album portrait done in watercolour, ink and gold of Sultan Selim II. It was his father, Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent, who solidified the geographical borders of the Ottoman Empire. Selim was better known for enjoying finer pleasures such as literature, art and wine. Here, he shown by the painter as larger than life, in a luxurious fur-lined and gold garment.

• Standard (alam), Iran, 16th century: Made of steel, standards usually decorated bowls used as drinking vessels or food containers for wandering ascetics. This pear-shaped standard contains an inscription which can be read from different angles. The text from top to bottom says: “Ya Allah, ya Muhammad, ya ‘Ali” (“O God, O Muhammad, O Ali).

[kmaherali]

AKM Project Brief....

http://www.akdn.org/Museum/catalogues/a ... _brief.pdf

[kmaherali]

Former Getty Director Michael Brand Heads to Aga Khan Museum
By Jason Edward Kaufman
Published: August 23, 2010

TORONTO— Michael Brand, the former J. Paul Getty Museum director who stepped down at the Los Angeles institution earlier this year, has been appointed to a consultancy post at the Aga Khan Development Network, a global Islamic charitable foundation that is currently building an Aga Khan Museum in Toronto. According to sources with knowledge of the hire, the position places Brand — an expert in Asian art — in line to assume the directorship of the Islamic art and culture museum when it opens in a Fumihiko Maki-designed building in 2013. Reached by ARTINFO, Brand confirmed the news of his appointment as a consultant, saying that he will be advising the organization "on strategies for the development of their international museum programs including, most specifically, the new Aga Khan Museum in Toronto.” A representative for the museum could not immediately be reached for comment.

The museum's collection of more than 1,000 items, donated by the Aga Khan and his family, includes books and manuscripts, metalwork, carpets, ceramics, paintings, ivories, hardstone objects, and woodcarving spanning the last millennium and ranging in provenance from China to Portugal. Officials at the museum say that they hope for it to serve as a cross-cultural educator about Muslim culture. (ARTINFO partner Canvas Guide reported on plans for the museum earlier this year.)

Like what you see? Sign up for ARTINFO's weekly newsletter to get the latest on the market, emerging artists, auctions, galleries, museums, and more.

Selections have been exhibited widely in Europe since 2007, including a survey at the Louvre in 2007-08. From October 2010 to January 2011, books and calligraphy from the collection will be shown at the Sakip Sabanci Museum in Istanbul, Turkey.

Born in 1936, the Aga Khan, Prince Karim Al Husseini, is the spiritual leader of the Ismailis sect of Shi'ite Islam, which numbers some 15 million adherents. His immense wealth, estimated by Forbes last year at $800 million, derives from investments.

Since the late 1970s he has established through his secular trust a range of cultural programs, including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (established in 1977), programs in Islamic architecture at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), a vast network that fosters innovative urban planning in Islamic communities, particularly in underdeveloped parts of the world.

Brand was director of the Getty Museum from 2005 until this January, when he abruptly resigned after falling out with James Wood, the president and CEO of the museum's parent, the Getty Trust. Wood has since passed away. Brand previously led the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond from 2000 to 2005, after serving for four years as assistant director of the Queensland Art Gallery in his native Australia.
This story was first reported by ARTINFO's IN VIEW blog.
[An unconfirmed tip led IN VIEW to announce earlier today that Brand was to head the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. That tip proved to be inaccurate and the post has been taken down.]
http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/35540 ... an-museum/

[kmaherali]

Wynford Drive projects exhibition starts at the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto
The site of the Ismaili Centre, Toronto, the Aga Khan Museum and their Park along Wynford Drive in Toronto on 3 December 2010. Photo: Courtesy of Imara Wynford Drive


» Also see the Wynford Drive projects construction photo gallery.

On 28 May 2010, Mawlana Hazar Imam and Canada’s Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Stephen Harper, performed the Foundation Ceremony of the Ismaili Centre, Toronto, the Aga Khan Museum and their Park. Situated along Wynford Drive in Toronto, these landmark projects will add to the cultural and architectural landscape of the city, and become platforms in the search for mutual understanding among all communities and cultures.

The Aga Khan Museum and its collection reflect the plurality of the Muslim world, while the adjacent Ismaili Centre will create spaces for interaction and dialogue. The Park, which will be free and open to all, will unite the two distinctive buildings, incorporating an Islamic chahar-bagh garden with reflecting pools and walkways.

In his speech at the Foundation Ceremony, Mawlana Hazar Imam commented that these projects symbolised “the harmonious integration of the spiritual, the artistic and the natural worlds,” and a commitment to "inter-cultural engagement, and international cooperation.” Prime Minister Harper remarked that they would help “promote pluralism, peace and tolerance through the expansion of knowledge and understanding.”

To give the Canadian Jamat and the wider community — particularly the residents around Wynford Drive — an opportunity to gain a better awareness of the objectives behind this initiative, an exhibition that showcases the images and architectural renderings of the Ismaili Centre, Toronto, the Aga Khan Museum and their Park, as well as some of the Museum's Collection, will be displayed across Canada over the next six months, starting in Toronto at the Ontario Science Centre between 23 December 2010 – 12 January 2011. Also on display will be images of the global Ismaili Centres and various Park projects initiated by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture.

“Construction of the Toronto projects is well underway,” said Zool Samji, Chairman of Imara (Wynford Drive) Ltd, the developer of the projects, “and we are on schedule in terms of construction milestones.”

Over the six months since the Foundation Ceremony, Imara has been taking photographs to capture the progress of construction. From what started as a wide open space in June, today the slanted walls of the Museum are now being erected while the circular Prayer Hall is taking shape. Together they are beginning to provide a sense of the buildings and the overall scale of the project.

“Residents of neighbouring areas, as well as many other interested parties are excited about the progress of the construction,” said Samji. “We are greatly appreciative of the enthusiasm and care that is being taken by the architects and all those involved in the construction.”

Speaking about the projects and the Exhibition, Mohamed Manji, President of the Ismaili Council for Canada, said that they “are a part of the ongoing cultural and architectural renaissance of Toronto, a city recognised for its cosmopolitan cultural outlook and its intense diversity.”

Manji said he encouraged the Canadian Jamat to attend and bring their friends and colleagues to view the exhibition to gain first-hand knowledge of the projects, which reflect Mawlana Hazar Imam’s confidence in Canada, for its commitment to pluralism and its support for the multicultural richness and diversity of its peoples.
Exhibition Schedule

23 December 2010 – 12 January 2011
Ontario Science Centre, 770 Don Mills Road, Toronto

The exhibition is located on Level 1 of the Ontario Science Centre’s Entrance Building. There is no admission charge to see this exhibition; however, ticket purchase is required for admission to the Science Centre exhibitions and films.

Open daily: 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., except December 25 when the centre will be closed.
Open 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., December 26, 2010 to January 2, 2011.
For further information and directions to the Ontario Science Centre, please visit www.ontariosciencecentre.ca
Tentative dates for other regions

The following are tentative dates for other major centres in Canada. Final dates and venues will be provided in due course.

Vancouver – February 2011
Calgary – March 2011
Edmonton – April 2011
Montreal – May 2011
Ottawa, at the Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat – June 2011

http://www.theismaili.org/cms/1137/

[kmaherali]

Construction continues at the Aga Khan Museum site in Toronto

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... 0287057022

[kmaherali]

Construction photos

http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2011/0 ... ilimail%29

[kmaherali]

Aga Khan Museum + Ismaili Centre

http://urbantoronto.ca/database/project ... ili-centre
Ismaili Centre, image courtesy of Amara Wynford Drive
Park at the Aga Khan Museum and Ismaili Centre, image courtesy of Amara Wynford
Aga Khan Museum detail, image courtesy of Amara Wynford Drive
Aga Khan Museum detail, image courtesy of Amara Wynford Drive
Aga Khan Museum detail, image courtesy of Amara Wynford Drive
Aga Khan Museum detail, image courtesy of Amara Wynford Drive
Aga Khan Museum, image courtesy of Amara Wynford Drive
Park at the Aga Khan Museum and Ismaili Centre, image courtesy of Amara Wynford
Park at the Aga Khan Museum and Ismaili Centre, image courtesy of Amara Wynford
Park at the Aga Khan Museum and Ismaili Centre, image courtesy of Amara Wynford
Park at the Aga Khan Museum and Ismaili Centre, image courtesy of Amara Wynford

Muslim societies comprise a quarter of the world’s population, yet there is limited knowledge of the people and their faith in the West. This considerable lack of understanding spans all aspects of the peoples of Islam: their pluralism, the diversity of their interpretations of the Qur’anic faith, the chronological and geographical extent of their history and culture, as well as their ethnic, linguistic and social diversity.

His Highness the Aga Khan has taken the initiative to create a museum of Muslim culture: the Aga Khan Museum, in Toronto, Canada. Due to open in 2013, the Museum will be established as a permanent institution with an international scope and mission. It is dedicated to the collection, research, preservation and display of works of art, objects and artefacts of artistic, cultural and historical significance from various periods and geographic areas of the Muslim world.

The Aga Khan Museum’s educational and cultural mission is to provide visitors with an understanding of the artistic, intellectual, scientific and religious heritage of communities, both Muslim and non- Muslim. The Museum, through its permanent and temporary exhibitions, education programmes and cultural activities, will offer unique insights and new perspectives into Islamic civilizations, which will foster knowledge and understanding both within Muslim societies and other cultures.

The Aga Khan Museum will have a programme
• of activities with a strong educational impact, aimed at both general and specialized audiences. It will present and host exhibitions, music and theatre, films, lectures and cultural activities that will emphasize the plurality of creative expressions inspired by the world of Islam. It will encourage an appreciation of the shared legacies of world civilizations and act as catalysts
for better understanding and mutual respect.
• A large permanent exhibition space will house art and artefacts acquired by His Highness the Aga Khan and his family and donated to the Museum. Up to 200 pieces from the Museum’s collection will be showcased in the permanent gallery that will combine state of the art display systems with innovative approaches to design and interpretation.
Major temporary exhibitions concerning the Islamic world will be presented in historic, geographic or thematic terms. These exhibitions will draw upon private collections and institutional holdings from all parts of the world. Smaller exhibitions on specific artists and topics will also be hosted in the temporary exhibition space.
• An auditorium with 350 seats will host music performances and theatre productions, book launches and readings, films and conferences. In addition to providing a platform for the Aga Khan Music Initiative, the auditorium will host conferences with sister institutions such as the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, the Aga Khan University, and the University of Central Asia, as well as seminars and symposia in collaboration with museums and cultural institutions from within and outside Canada. These events will offer the public a varied and exciting cultural programme throughout the year.
• A world class reference library and multi- media centre, as well as classrooms and workshops for educational activities will be aimed at a broad public and all age groups.

Through these programmes, the Museum will provide visitors with an understanding of the art, ideas, literature and cultures of Muslim civilizations that have had a profound impact on humanity.
The abstract notion of light was a source of inspiration for the design of the Aga Khan Museum by the renowned Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki.

Born in Tokyo in 1928, Fumihiko Maki is one of the foremost architects in the world. Following his undergraduate studies in architecture at the University of Tokyo (1952), Maki went on to obtain Master’s degrees from both the Cranbrook Academy of Art (1953) and the Harvard Graduate School of Design (1954). After working in the United States, Maki established his own firm, Maki and Associates, in Tokyo in 1965.

For the design of the Aga Khan Museum, Maki and Associates worked closely with Toronto based and internationally recognized Moriyama & Teshima Architects.

Designed to be modern and efficient, the Museum is contained in a 10,500m2 building within a simple rectilinear footprint 81 metres long by 54 metres wide. The four primary functions (exhibition spaces, an auditorium, classrooms and workshops, and library and media-centre) will revolve around a central courtyard, which will act as the heart of the building and will integrate the different functions into a cohesive whole while allowing each space to maintain its independence, privacy and character.

The Aga Khan Museum contains exhibition spaces designed to be flexible, bold and innovative. These spaces will showcase objects in a visual setting that will allow visitors to be inspired by the great diversity of the arts of Islam.

The Museum will share the 6.8 hectare site with the Ismaili Centre, designed by Charles Correa Associates with Moriyama & Teshima Architects, and will be surrounded by a landscaped park, designed by Vladimir Djurovic Landscape Architecture with Moriyama & Teshima Architects. Together, they will constitute important landmarks and green space for the city of Toronto.

Connecting the Ismaili Centre and the Aga Khan Museum will be a beautifully landscaped Park designed by landscape architect, Vladimir Djurovic, in collaboration with Toronto-based Moriyama & Teshima Planners. Djurovic has worked to create a simple yet expressive space that will unite the two distinctive buildings and describes his vision for the Park as one that “captures the essence of the Islamic garden and translates it into an expression that reflects its context and contemporary age.” The Park will incorporate the Islamic “chaar bhag” or formal garden with reflecting pools, walkways, and components suited to the climate of Toronto, so that the garden captures the stark beauty of the Canadian winter as well as the flowering of summer. It will include spaces for educational programming and outdoor gatherings as well as offering a place of tranquillity and relaxation.

Working with the City of Toronto, additional areas will be landscaped to enhance the green spaces available to the visiting public. The goal is to ensure that the Park, through its design and extensive use, becomes a permanent legacy to Toronto and Canada. For His Highness the Aga Khan, buildings and public spaces are physical manifestations of culture in societies, past, and present. They aim to represent human endeavours that serve to enhance quality of life, foster self-understanding and community values. For the developing world in particular, they aim to expand opportunities for economic and social development in the communities they serve.

Collections

“The 1,428 years of the Ummah embrace many civilizations and are therefore characterized by an astonishing pluralism. In particular, this geographic, ethnic, linguistic and religious pluralism has manifested itself at the most defining moments in the history of the Ummah. The Aga Khan Museum Collection will highlight objects drawn from every region and every period, and created from every kind of material in the Muslim world.”
- His Highness the Aga Khan - “Musée-Musées” Round Table, Louvre Paris

The Museum collection contains some one thousand artefacts and artworks. This collection, which will continue to evolve and grow, spans over one thousand years of history. The ceramic, metalwork, ivory, stone and wood, textile and carpet, glass and rock crystal objects, along with rare works on parchment and illustrated paintings on paper present an overview of the artistic accomplishments of Muslim civilizations from the Iberian Peninsula to China.

The Museum will house and exhibit some of the most important works of Islamic art in the world. The collection incorporates miniatures and manuscripts brought together by the late Prince Sadruddin and Princess Catherine Aga Khan with Islamic artefacts and works of art collected by His Highness the Aga Khan over the last two decades.

To prepare the research on the art works, to test various musicological themes, and to develop relationships with key international partners, a series of exhibitions featuring selections from the Museum’s collection have been organized since 2007. To date, major exhibitions have taken place in Parma, London, Paris, Lisbon, Toledo, Madrid, Barcelona and Berlin. Over the next two years, further exhibitions are envisaged in Istanbul and five other cities in the Muslim world. By 2012, these exhibitions will have been seen by nearly one and a half million people and will have created a framework for cooperation and collaboration with museums and institutions throughout the world.

A Museum in Canada

“While some North American museums have significant collections of Muslim art, there is no institution devoted to Islamic art. In building the museum in Toronto, we intend to introduce a new actor to the North American art scene. What happens on that continent, culturally, economically and politically, cannot fail to have worldwide repercussions – which is why we thought it important that an institution capable of promoting understanding and tolerance should exist there.”

Canada has for many years been a beacon to the rest of the world for its commitment to pluralism. This tradition of tolerance and inclusiveness has permitted diversity to flourish, enriching the life of each individual and community that has sought to make Canada its home.

It is within this framework that the Aga Khan Museum will act as both a repository of heritage and a source of inspiration, complementing the work of the Global Centre for Pluralism in Ottawa, another new initiative of His Highness the Aga Khan, that seeks to share Canada’s experience of pluralism with the world.
Standard (alam), Iran, late 16th Century

This Museum is one of three new buildings established by His Highness the Aga Khan in Canada. Taken together, the Museum, the Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat in Ottawa, and, the Ismaili Centre in Toronto, affirm the intent to share within a western setting, the humanistic traditions of Islam and reflect His Highness’ conviction that buildings can do more than simply house people and programmes; they can also reflect our deepest values.

His Highness the Aga Khan

His Highness the Aga Khan is the 49th hereditary Imam (spiritual leader), of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims and Founder and Chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network. In the Ismaili tradition, the Imam’s responsibilities involve not only the interpretation of the faith for the Ismaili Community, but also the relationship of that faith to conditions in the present. For the Aga Khan, this has led to a deep involvement with development, as a process grounded in the ethics of Islam, in which economic, social, and cultural factors converge to determine quality of life.

The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) was founded and is guided by His Highness the Aga Khan as a group of development agencies, institutions, and programmes that work primarily in the poorest parts of Asia and Africa. AKDN focuses on health, education, culture, rural development, institution-building and the promotion of economic development. It is dedicated to improving living conditions and opportunities for the poor, without regard to their faith, origin or gender.

The AKDN works in over 25 countries around the world and employs approximately 60,000 people, the majority of whom are based in developing countries.

[kmaherali]

Aga Khan Museum Construction Update - August 29, 2011

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cobby17/se ... 093709145/

[kmaherali]

Update - Landscaping begins...

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 0287057022

[agakhani]

Even though, this Toronto Museum is still under construction but its photos looks very good and attractive, no doubt when it will be open for public then it will be best museum to visit for everyone.

[kmaherali]

Aga Khan Visit - September 20, 2011

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... 022&type=1

http://urbantoronto.ca/database/project ... ili-centre

[kmaherali]

Treasures of the Aga Khan Museum

http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/4df ... 4dfa4be3/1

[kmaherali]

Construction Update

http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/showthread ... post571889