Toronto tourist - Aga Khan Museum

A couple of people recommended this museum to me so yesterday morning I headed out, in rush hour(s) to The Aga Khan Museum. I am amazed at the people that can balance their phone (talking on it, of course), a coffee, a lunch bag and a newspaper or book while standing on a swerving, bumping, lurching bus. They could handle a paddle board no problem. I hold on with 2 hands and still worry I am going to topple everyone like dominoes.

Took 3 buses but I was dropped off right at the entrance, near the Don Valley Parkway.

There are 5 reflecting pools in front of the stark, white building

relieved by bright flowers beside the restaurant patio.

The Museum offers visitors the artistic, intellectual, and scientific heritage of Muslim civilizations across the centuries from the Iberian Peninsula to China. (from their website) and is the only museum of its kind in North America (according to the Ismaili Centre guide).

I started with the Bellerive Room which houses the ceramic collection of  the late Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, donated by his wife with the stipulation that it be displayed as it was in their house in Geneva.

Beautiful and old plates, bowls, jugs and tiles.

Next stop was the permanent collection.

The world map wall showed the spread of Muslim influence, highlighting it chronologically. The room was organized in much the same way.

There were brief explanations of the faith and the intertwining of faith and art. Calligraphy is considered the highest form of art as it spreads the word of God.

Pages of the Qur'an were in one display case (gold and colourful inks were often used) and phrases from the Qur'an were also on tiles, plates, carvings ... This one was from the 9th century.

The articles on display were varied. Stone (a capital from 10th century Spain),

textile (from Egypt, first half of the 12th century),

metal (close up of candlestick decoration from Iran or Afghanistan, 12/13th century)

wood (Spain, 16th century)

bone (detail from an oliphant -ceremonial hunting horn,England, 17th century),

tile (detail from

this panel, France, 20th century).

The most prevalent though were the illustrated pages, some still in books, others were stand alone. Religious, educational, stories and myths on paper and preserved for centuries.

Iran, mid 17th century, first book in the Muslim world of the whole body anatomy.

This one depicted the end of a bad ruler.

Each of the two rooms was dominated by one large item;

This fountain which would have been in the ground was from 16th century Syria.

This carpet from 16th century Iran

was made from wool, cotton and silk.

Upstairs there were 2 temporary exhibits where I could not take pictures. One was of the fantastic creatures to be found in the collection (dragons, devils etc) and the other was an examination of the new entrance to be constructed for the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. George and I were there twice. The first time, on our own, we walked up the hill from a hotel in the city and were absolutely awe struck by the ornamentation in the palace and the Generalife gardens. The second time we drove, with Christine, and entered from the top parking lot. Still amazed by it. The new entrance will be low to the ground, to not compete with the site, and will also house a new museum. It will be built by the parking lots and it looks like a fitting addition to a magnificent site.
The Aga Khan museum was informative, interesting and had some beautiful pieces. It was expensive, though, for a relatively small collection, as I was able to compare it directly (although probably not fairly) with the AGO (about the same price).