Placing Islamic Art on a New Pedestal | The New York Times
It imported a group of highly respected artisans from Fez, Morocco, to build a Maghrebi-Andalusian-style courtyard from scratch, a painstaking project that took several months. It recruited woodworkers in Cairo for special doors (delivered on time despite the upheaval there) and glass blowers in Red Hook, Brooklyn, to make new mosque lamps based on ancient designs. It put textile conservators to work for more than three years for an inch-by-inch restoration of “The Emperor’s Carpet,” a renowned 16th-century Iranian rug believed to have belonged to Peter the Great and then to Leopold I, which has been displayed briefly only twice since the Met acquired it in 1943 because of its worn condition. […]
“There is always a tendency to vilify a people as if they have come out of nothing,” she said in an interview in the galleries in August, with more than a third of the objects installed. “But these things are humanizing. They show the beauty and achievement and even the sense of humor of a great culture. Whether people apply that to their view of public affairs is their own business. But at least they will be able to use their eyes and draw their own conclusions.”
