News of: Monday, December 20 2010,
An exhibition of top pieces from the Khalili Collection has opened in the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) in Amsterdam.
The exhibition is called 'Passion for Perfection'.
Mr Nasser Khalili is a Jewish Iranian citizen, who made his fortune in London with art trade. He possesses the largest private collection of Islamic art in the world, with 20,000 pieces.
For Khalili it is important to stress that the three main world religions are connected, and he finds it of symbolic value that the collection of a Jewish person from an Islamic country is on display in a Christian church.
Five hundred top pieces of the collection are now on display in the Nieuwe Kerk on Dam Square in Amsterdam.
The items come from all over the Islamic world: from China and India to Iran and Iraq, from Egypt and Tunisia to Turkey and Spain. The works on display range from the 8th century until modern times.
The exhibition includes richly illuminated Qur’ans and manuscripts, paintings, gold, jewels, textiles, ceramics, glassware, lacquerware, metalwork, and wood carvings.
The term Islam art does not normally mean that the topic of the work is religious, as it is often in Christian art.
This is the first time that such a large selection from the Khalili Collections is to be displayed in the Netherlands. The exhibition was previously shown in Sydney, Abu Dhabi, and Paris.
The exhibtion will close after April 17.
More information.
