Mustafa(Pbuh) Art Museum: Impetus to reflect upon glory days of Islamic Golden Age
Chief executive of World Science Federation (WSF) in an interview commented on ‘Making of A Museum’ virtual ceremony held to felicitate artists of donated artworks to the Mustafa(Pbuh) Art Museum.
MSTF Media reports:
During the online ‘Making of A Museum’ event, held by the Mustafa
Science and Technology Foundation (MSTF) in collaboration with the World Science Federation (WSF), the artists whose artworks are donated to the Mustafa
Art Museum were felicitated and a virtual exhibition of their art was held.
Hosting prominent figures in the realm of art, this virtual event was attended by art enthusiasts from India, the US, Italy, the UK, Hungary, Iran, and the UAE.
It was a multi-dimensional meeting aimed at “promoting art through science and science through art,” Eram Rizvi, chief executive of WSF noted.
It was an amalgamation of people from different backgrounds and cultures who came together and shared their views on art and science, especially the Islamic art and middle-eastern art, because most of the artists that participated were Muslims, Rizvi continued.
A keynote speaker of the event was Kirti Dodeja from Domus Academy of Milan, Italy, with an expertise in renovating historical sites.
In the virtual art exhibition—to which Qawwali (Indian Classical Sufi Music) added zest—donated artworks were displayed from portrait artists, Impressionists, landscape artists, and calligraphists specialized in Arabic, Urdu, and English calligraphies.
Among the notable artworks donated to the Mustafa
Art Museum is a painting of Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq
who was a Muslim scholar setting scientific revolution in motion. The fascinating point about this painting is that “its artist is a Christian whose painting took almost a year and a half to be completed,” the chief executive of WSF said.
As this is a science museum, there must be a special position considered for the masterminds of scientific revolution from the Islamic world, Rizvi emphasized, adding that such brilliant minds and scientific achievements of the Islamic Golden Age must be foregrounded and introduced again to the Muslims in the present day.
Another remarkable artwork donated to the Museum is a mixture of calligraphy and oil painting of a Hadith by Prophet Muhammad
: “I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate.”
A gold medalist in Arabic calligraphy and an award winner in English calligraphy were among the artists who were present at the virtual meeting and whose artworks have been donated to Mustafa
Art Museum.
Shipra Malhotra, 3-time award winner in English calligraphy, as a participant of this virtual event, said “There was a vast variety of work that was shared in the virtual display—from tin work to finger painting.”
The chief executive of WSF, noting that many were inspired during this online meeting, said even though the number of educated people in some Muslim countries is high, “many of the Muslim people in Muslim or Muslim-majority countries around the world are not still highly educated.”
Such ceremonies will give impetus to Muslims to reflect upon the glory days of the Islamic Golden Age and get inspired, she added.
Highlighting the importance of networking to attract more artists, she maintained that developing different networks will make more artists get involved in this process in the future and will ignite their interests to donate their artworks to the Mustafa
Art Museum.
Seyed Ali Omrani, executive director of the Mustafa
Science and Technology Foundation stated that the Mustafa
Art Museum is home to artists from around the world, fond of promoting peace, security and health of the humankind in the name of Prophet Mustafa
, that with their language of creating works of art, make it viable to communicate with all nations.
This Museum aims at “narrating the values of Prophet Muhammad
and the Islamic world in stabilization of peace and security focusing on the development of science and technology” with the prospect of “creating an international circle in order to communicate science and technology concentrating on Prophet Muhammad
,” Omrani continued.
The Mustafa
Art Museum is established to promote the values and ethics of Prophet Muhammad
as well as peace and dialogue in the world. Having the motto “Each artist one artwork,” it aims to foster peace and friendship in the name of Prophet Muhammad
. The museum is composed of four halls: artists of the Islamic world, scientists of the Islamic world, commemoration of science and technology luminaries, and artistic memories. A total of 28 artworks by artists from India, Iran, and Morocco have been dedicated to the museum so far.
