ARTS OF ISLAM. A PAST FOR A PRESENT OR 18 EXHIBITIONS IN 18 CITIES

Arts of Islam, a past for a present, is an exhibition of 180 works which takes place from November 20, 2021 to March 27, 2022 in 18 cities at the same time, notably Rennes and Nantes. It is co-produced by the meeting of national museums – Grand Palais and the Louvre museum. This national exhibition of Islamic Arts is available in the cities of Angoulême, Blois, Clermont-Ferrand, Dijon, Figeac, Limoges, Mantes-la-Jolie, Marseille, Nancy, Nantes, Narbonne, Rennes, Rillieux-la-Pape , Rouen, Saint-Denis, Saint-Louis (Reunion), Toulouse and Tourcoing.

Since its creation in 2012, the Department of Islamic Arts at the Louvre has offered the public an immersion in Islamic cultures, from Spain to India, from the 7th to the 19th century, and reveals the importance of ancient exchanges. , narrow and fruitful woven between France and the Orient. Artistic and historical witnesses, the works of art have illustrated the cultural and religious diversity within the Islamic world for thirteen centuries. They reflect the circulation of ideas and people, but also the plural heritage of French heritage. In the face of religious fanaticism and a priori, culture must relentlessly be a bulwark and a lever to transmit, open up to others, give back the keys to understanding crossed pasts in order to build a shared future.

It is in this perspective that the Ministry of Culture has mobilized by asking the Louvre and the Réunion des Musées Nationaux – Grand Palais to organize in the fall of 2021 a project intended for a very large audience, and to the younger generations in particular, to take a fresh look at the arts and cultures of Islam.

From November 20, 2021 to March 27, 2022, 18 exhibitions in as many cities in France will be presented to the public, in a museum, a media library, a library, a cultural space.

For each hanging, 10 works, both historical and contemporary, from the Department of Islamic Arts at the Louvre Museum and from national and regional collections, will embody the richness of the cultures of Islam and their inscription in history. in France for more than 1,300 years. More than 180 works in total will be presented to the public.

This initiative also aims to enlighten the public on the great diversity of the territories and populations concerned by Islam. Islamic civilization is as much Arab as Turkish, Indian as Iranian, Asian or Maghrebian … The works presented will highlight a wide variety of artistic practices and sensibilities, evoking scenes of life, nature, amorous desire, a simple decoration palace or mosque.

If the exhibition “Arts of Islam, A past for a present” incites curiosity, the event is perhaps above all an invitation to come and be moved. Nothing prevents anyone from wanting to organize a Tour de France in 18 stages to discover so many testimonies delivered by these works. Dialogue between past and present works, each exhibition will feature a work by a contemporary artist from a country in the Islamic world, reflecting a vision of the current world and the relationship to their heritage.

18 exhibitions in as many cities of Angoulême, Blois, Clermont- Ferrand, Dijon, Figeac, Limoges, Mantes-la-Jolie, Marseille, Nancy, Nantes, Narbonne, Rennes, Rillieux-la-Pape, Rouen, Saint-Denis, Saint-Louis (Reunion), Toulouse, Tourcoing.

The general curatorship of all exhibitions is provided by Yannick Lintz, director of the Department of Islamic Arts at the Louvre Museum.

The co-commissioners:

Emilie SALABERRY-DUHOUX, Director of the Angoulême Museums
Marie-Jeanne BOISTARD, Director of Agglopolys Libraries
Farhad KAZEMI, Curator at the Museums of France Service
Cecile DUPRÉ, Director of Museums and Heritage, Clermont Auvergne Métropole
Nathalie ROUX, Director of the Roger-Quilliot Art Museum (MARQ), Clermont Auvergne Métropole Christine BOUILLOC, Director of the Bargoin Museum, Clermont Auvergne Métropole

Catherine TRAN-BOURDONNEAU, Curator at the Museum of Fine Arts in Dijon
Celine RAMIO, Director of the Museums of Figeac
Anne-Laure GARAÏOS, Scientific Director of the Museum of Decorative Arts of the Indian Ocean – MADOI Francois LAFABRIÉ, Curator of the Limoges Fine Arts Museum
Celine PAUL, Director of the Adrien Dubouché National Museum / City of Ceramics – Sèvres & Limoges Jeanne PACKET, Head of Heritage and Tourism Department. Museum of the Hôtel-Dieu in Mantes-la-Jolie Marion LUTZ, Scientific manager – curator, L’Alcazar Library in Marseille Sophie LAROCHE, Curator of the Museum of Fine Arts of Nancy
Clothilde GAUTIER-COURTAUGIS, Director of the Passage Sainte-Croix in Nantes
Flora COLLETTE, City of Narbonne Heritage Director
Francois COULON, Curator in charge of extra-European collections Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rennes
Franck FOURNIER, Director of Cultural Action in Rillieux-la-Pape
Marie-Lise LAHAYE, Curator of Decorative Arts at the Rouen Ceramics Museum
Anne YANOVER, Director of the Paul Eluard Museum in Saint-Denis
Francis SAINT-GENEZ, Director of the Museum of Precious Arts Paul-Dupuy and of the Georges-Labit Museum Marie-France BERTHET, Director of Cultural Action in Tourcoing
Françoise COHEN, Director of the Institut du Monde Arabe Tourcoing
Melanie LERAT, Director – Curator of MUba Eugène Leroy