The Write Stuff
Islamic Arts Museum, Kuala Lumpur
I’ve always known that Her Ladyship is a bit of a fruit and nut case, so Malaysia was a treat for her with all its tropical offerings. She baulked, however, at trying durian, famous, or rather infamous, for its pungent smell. This appears to be the ultimate forbidden fruit. Wherever we went, there was signage stating that durian is banned in rental apartments, in rental cars, in elevators, on public transport… It seems that if you get caught with one in the wrong place, the powers that be will kick up quite a stink!
I felt like kicking up a bit of a stink myself when I heard that the Oldies were planning a visit to the Islamic Arts Museum. As you know, when it comes to museums, I find I can only take in so much before my beady little bird’s eyes start to glaze over. And we’d already visited two mosques. How much more can a gull take? Amazingly enough, the museum held my attention for far longer than I would have expected.
For a start, the building itself was worth the visit alone. I loved the bright, modern design with floor to ceiling windows offering fantastic views of the National Mosque and other central Kuala Lumpur landmarks. For me, the cupolas were the outstanding feature, beautiful both inside and outside.
In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the museum, there was a special exhibition on calligraphy. Now, here the writing was on the wall.
The religious meaning behind it all is completely over my head, but it certainly is lovely to look at. And I was not expecting to see so much modern art – wonderfully creative interpretations of the ancient scripts by contemporary artists.
I found the different calligraphy styles quite fascinating. The swirly writing is beautiful, but I particularly loved the angular Kufic style. At first glance, I didn’t know whether I was looking at an ancient Arabic script or a modern day QR code. Either way, I wouldn’t be able to decipher it, but it sure looked funky!
The ancient illuminated manuscripts were exquisite. These reminded me of the wonderful books I had seen in various Austrian monastic libraries. Not every book was on a religious theme either. I spotted this Syrian tome on horse medicine dating from the early 17th century, ‘The Complete Guide to the Profession of Veterinary Medicine and Horse Breeding’. The title is a bit of a mouthful, but those illustrations are spot on. Now, there’s a guy who could draw a horse!
The vast number and variety of the treasures on the upper floors caught me by surprise. Apart from many objects of local origin on display, there were samples of beautiful Islamic art from across the globe, from the Americas to Africa, from Europe to the Middle East, from to India to China. The scale models of famous mosques around the world caught my eye too. And made me feel ten feet tall. A rare feat.
Much of the jewellery here would knock your socks off. I was totally dazzled by the Nizam of Hyderabad Necklace. Would you believe, those eight diamonds are each between 10 and 15 carats. Herself was positively drooling over that piece!
On different scale altogether, Her Ladyship appeared to be totally wowed by this tiny, intricate carved head on the hilt of a dagger which had belonged to Shah Jahan, the famous Mughal leader. I think the romantic in her was also thrilled to see a personal item owned by perhaps one of the greatest romantics of all, the chap who built the Taj Mahal as a monument to his beloved wife. Perhaps Herself hopes His Lordship might do something similar for her some day. Ah well, I suppose she can but dream.
On close inspection of the dagger, I managed to make out the special ‘auspicious fish’ symbol carved on the blade. ‘Weird’, I thought, ‘Sure, isn’t every fish auspicious?’ And, predictably, it was then that I began to wish for a dish of delicious auspicious fish. Ah well, a seagull can but dream…
