Aga Khan museum plays host to marvellous, mythical creatures
Fans of Game of Thrones or The Jungle Book might want to consider an outing to the Aga Khan Museum. As a new show called Marvellous Creatures: Animals in Islamic Art reminds us, mythical beings and anthropomorphized heroes from the natural world are about as old as humanity itself. Before there were screens to see them on, they inspired artistic expression in almost every genre and culture.
Some 93 different design objects and artworks make up the Mar
vellous Creatures show, which runs until Sept. 11. Nearly half of the vibrantly coloured and fanciful ceramics, jewelry, glass, textiles, paintings and manuscripts are on loan from the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar.
What unites this disparate collection is that all depict animals, from the tiny blown-glass fish with its mouth comically agape (sixth century Egypt), to a fancifully depicted elephant comprised of images of other creatures (sixth century India).
These works hang together with mythical creations from early Persian, Arabic, Turkish and Urdu literature such as the winged AlBuraq — a Pegasus-like creature said to have carried the Prophet Mohammed to the heavenly realm.
Figurative representations of even real animals are never found inside mosques but as curator Filiz Cakir Phillip demonstrates with this exhibition, secular or courtly life in Muslim cultures was abundant with them — and the more fantastical the better.
“There is a richness to the fig- urative world of Islamic art,” says Cakir Phillip.
“As early as the sixth century, it was open to all kinds of information and synergy, and is not as conservative as generally believed. Particularly Iranian culture, which is very fruitful when it comes to animal motifs because of its geographical position in between the Arab countries and China.”
Organized thematically into the four elements of nature — air, water, fire and earth — the show is artfully framed with arched doorways painted in hues suggestive of the essential characteristics of each.
When it came to the classification of a multi-talented creature such as the dragon, however, the curator was first confounded. “A dragon lives in water, but flies in the air and spits out fire,” says Cakir Phillip. She went with fire.
Just as in Aesop’s Fables, “there is a design codification of the qualities that have come to be associated with different animals,” says Cakir Phillip. And indeed the portrayals of such whimsies as unicorns, rainbow-hued simurghs and shapeshifting demons or “divs” alongside brave and regal lions, courtly horses and prolific hares serve to empha- size the particular “gifts” in legend of each.
Standouts include a fantastically green horse (ninth century Iran), and an exquisitely filigreed pair of gold earrings, also from Iran, each shaped like a lion.
But the buried treasure of the show is an installation at the end by contemporary Lebanese artist Mohamed-Said Baalbeki, representing a sort of artistic “inquiry” into the nature and existence of Al-Buraq. “Every culture has strong roots in animal fables,” says Cakir Phillip. “It’s through the natural world that we tell our stories. Every single hero has to slay at least one dragon.” Karen von Hahn is a Toronto-based writer, trend observer and style commentator. Contact her at kvh@karenvonhahn.com.
“Every culture has strong roots in animal fables. It’s through the natural world that we tell our stories. Every single hero has to slay at least one dragon.” FILIZ CAKIR PHILLIP MUSEUM CURATOR