Curating Islamic Art in the Central United States: New Approaches to Collections, Installations and Audience Engagement

Abstract

In the early twentieth century, museums across the central United States built collections showcasing world art, including often-impressive holdings of art from the historical Islamic lands. Now, a century later, we view these objects through different lenses. Even though the objects and their aesthetic achievements have not changed, their interpretation has, due to new cultural and political contexts, larger and more diverse museum audiences and the changing role of museums in contemporary society. This chapter examines and compares how three Midwestern museums are negotiating these changes through recent exhibitions and reinstallations of their Islamic collections. The chapter particularly explores how updated engagement with community partnerships have been critical in the successful development of these projects. These museums have all negotiated, and in some cases challenged, institutional models in order to frame Islamic art for its twenty-first-century audiences.