Walid Raad: Preface to the First Edition at Louvre’s Salle de la Maquette (19 January-8 April)

Guest blogger Saranna Biel-Cohen reviews Lebanese artist Walid Raad’s contemporary installation at the Louvre 

Walid Raad: Preface to the First Edition”,  Louvre's Salle de la Maquette (Installation view)

Walid Raad: Preface to the First Edition”, Louvre’s Salle de la Maquette (Installation view)

Paris: Contemporary media artist Walid Raad is currently showing a work at the Louvre in conjunction with the opening of the new Islamic galleries in the museum. Raad, born in Lebanon, now based in New York City, was trained in photography and video art, and has exhibited worldwide in major expositions including documenta 11 and the Venice and the Whitney Biennales amongst others. He is best known for his work, Atlas Group, which deals with the contemporary history of Lebanon with particular emphasis on the wars in the country between 1975 to 1991. Another project, Scratching on Things I Could Disavow. A History of Art in the Arab World, begun in 2007, critically examined the heritage of the Middle East and the geopolitical issues that have come to define the region in contemporary society and media.

To mark the opening of the Islamic Galleries, the Louvre invited Raad to take part in a collaborative project which will span three consecutive years. The first part of this project is currently on view until April 8, 2013 in an exhibition called “Preface to the First Edition” which includes a video, a sculptural installation and a publication.

In the basement of the museum, visitors can see the foundation of the Louvre, originally built as a fortress in the 12th Century. Raad’s installation is in a pocket just off these foundation walls. Neon vertical lights are unexpected in that setting and they invite visitors to experience a contemporary conversation about the museum’s newest gallery. Metal stencils hang from the ceiling and bright white lights are projected onto them, creating linear shadows on the walls, resembling doorways or corridors. Raad’s use of light and shadow shape the four walls of the space, on one wall, a video of blurred images and objects is periodically projected. His work discusses trauma of the region, displacement of objects and globalization of Arab art, themes that he has explored in previous projects.

Walid Raad: Preface to the First Edition”,  Louvre's Salle de la Maquette (Installation view)

Walid Raad: Preface to the First Edition”, Louvre’s Salle de la Maquette (Installation view)

The Raad and Louvre collaboration is another example of heightened interest in both the ancient and contemporary art of the Islamic world from museums around the world. “Over the past few years, I have been fascinated by the emergence of new art museums, galleries, schools and cultural foundations in cities such as Abu Dhabi, Beirut, Cairo, Doha, Istanbul, Ramallah and Sharjah, among others. I am intrigued by the increased visibility of the makers, sponsors, consumers and histories of “Arab art,” and more so by the acceleration in the development of new infrastructures for the visual arts in the Arabian Gulf.” – Walid Raad on his work at dOCUMENTA 13.

The Louvre’s new and extensive Islamic galleries really define it as a global museum, and with its new location opening in Abu Dhabi, a deeper connection to the Arab world is solidified.

Read more about Raad’s work in this Art Newspaper interview with the artist.

Guest contributor Saranna Biel-Cohen lives and works in London. She holds a Master’s Degree in History of Art from University College London with a focus on Modern Indian Art.

New Islamic Art Galleries at the Louvre

Guest blogger Saranna Biel-Cohen explores the stunning new galleries of Islamic art at the Louvre in Paris

Paris: Last year we featured a series of blog posts about the new Islamic wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. 2012 was also the year of another significant opening in the world of Islamic art: Islam, at the Louvre in Paris.

Director of Islamic Art, Sophie Makariou explains the title was chosen to incorporate the expanse of the Islamic world throughout the centuries from Spain to India, The Empire of Islam, as it was known. Islam highlights cultural value of these works and their historical contribution spanning 1,300 years and three continents.

Bellini structure
Image credit: http://www.aasarchitecture.com

Bellini Structure
Image credit: nytimes.com

Comprising 18,000 objects dating from the 7th to the 19th century, the gallery explores the breadth and creativity of the civilization and is the largest collection of Islamic art in Europe. The collection is housed under an undulating structure made of aluminum and glass in the Louvre’s Visconti Courtyard, the most significant architectural addition to the museum since I.M. Pei’s glass pyramids of 1989. The project, by Italian architects Mario Bellini and Rudy Ricciotti, took six years to complete. Modeled on a silk scarf, the structure seems to float in mid air between the neoclassical buildings. Walking in to the gallery, there is an immediate sensation of being in a tent, with light pouring in from all sides.

The collection opens with an introduction to the Islamic world, beginning with the Prophet’s exile in 632 (Hegira in Arabic) and the subsequent conquest of Persia, Byzantium and beyond. The early period of Islam is represented by glass, metal and ceramics.

Vitrines of glass stamps, Egypt, 700

Vitrines of glass stamps, Egypt, 700

The gallery focuses on the intricacies of decorative texts on religious and secular objects and its various influences. Arabic writing predates Islam by a century. Then different forms of writing, Qu’ranic script and secular were used to adorn pieces, describe their function or offer protection to an object. The later incorporation of Persian, an indo-European language, further developed the use of decorative text and many objects with Persian poetry are on view. Read more about decorative calligraphy here.

A sleek, industrial looking metal staircase leads to the lower-ground floor. Large Turkish mosaics greet you at the bottom. They were found by a team of French-American archaeologists in the 1930s at Antioch (Antakya), once the capital of Syria, in the residential neighborhood of Daphne. A Roman tradition, mosaic making spread across the Roman Empire and was then used by subsequent civilizations for religious, public and private use.

Phoenix Mosaic, Antakya, 6th Century

Phoenix Mosaic, Antakya, 6th Century

This particular mosaic depicts a phoenix, a mythical bird that rises from ashes, bordered by pairs of ram heads. It was discovered in 1936 almost completely intact. Greek and Roman classical sculpture can be found in a two small rooms above the mosaics. Statues of Greek and Roman gods are housed there, a memory of an earlier civilization that had occupied parts of the region covered in the rest of the galleries.

Marble sculpture of goddess, Artemis, Akshehir, Turkey, 2nd Century

Marble sculpture of goddess, Artemis, Akshehir, Turkey, 2nd Century

There are large vitrines of Egyptian textiles dating from the 6th century. They bear Roman and Byzantine iconography that later evoked Christian interpretations. Cherubs picking grapes, playing instruments and dancing references the Roman god of wine, Bacchus while Christians interpreted this theme of wine as reference from a passage from the Gospel of John in which Jesus is a vine and God the vine grower.

Cupid Picking Grapes
Linen and wool tapestry, Egypt, 6th Century

The Islamic conquest of Persia (633–656) ended the Sassanid Empire. Iran became a part of the Islamic Empire and many of the objects in the gallery are associated with the mix of cultures that ensued.

Ceramic stars, Iran, c. 665

Ceramic stars, Iran, c. 665

Hughes Dubois/Musée du LouvreA silver and gold inlaid casket, Iran, 14th-century

A silver and gold inlaid casket, Iran, 14th-century
Image credit: Hughes Dubois/Musée du Louvre

The Islamic Empire expanded west to Spain and east to India. By the 16th century the Islamic world made up 30% of the global population.

Carved ivory pyxis of al-Mughira, Cordoba, c. 968
Image credit: Hughes Dubois/Musée du Louvre

Wood doors inlaid with ebony and ivory, Egypt c. 1380-1420

Wood doors inlaid with ebony and ivory, Egypt c. 1380-1420

An extensive collection from the Mughal Empire (about 1526-1858) includes intricate armor, elaborate daggers, ceramic tiles and Indian carpets. Many of the carpets were made in factories founded by Emperor Akbar (1556-1605) in Fatehpur Sikri, capital of the Mughal Empire for only about 10 years. To learn more carpets, click here.

Philippe Ruault/Musée du Louvre

Louvre Islamic Galleries
Image credit: Philippe Ruault/Musée du Louvre

Indian carpets

Indian carpets

Jade dagger with horse head handle inlaid with rubies, emeralds and gold, MughalPeriod, 17th CenturyImage credit: www.bbc.co.uk

Jade dagger with horse head handle inlaid with rubies, emeralds and gold, Mughal
Period, 17th Century
Image credit: http://www.bbc.co.uk

The Ottoman Empire (14th–20th Century) stretched from the Balkans and Anatolia, around the Mediterranean basin, and as far as Morocco. Ottoman carpets are displayed, as well as large and small scale Iznik ceramics.

Ottoman ceramic wall, Turkey, c. 1560–80Image credit: Raphaël Chipault /Musée du Louvre

Ottoman ceramic wall, Turkey, c. 1560–80
Image credit: Raphaël Chipault /Musée du Louvre

Funding for the 98 million Euro gallery was provided by the French government and supported by endowments from Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Kuwait, Oman and Azerbaijan. Of the 18,000 objects in the collection, 3,000 are currently on view and 300 objects will move to the Louvre Abu Dhabi in 2017.

Guest contributor Saranna Biel-Cohen lives and works in London. She holds a Master’s Degree in History of Art from University College London with a focus on Modern Indian Art.

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