Eleventh International Conference on The Inclusive Museum

Abstract

A celebrated lusterware mihrab (prayer niche) has been part of the collection on display at the Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture + Design since its opening as a public institution in 2002. It is one of six surviving luster mihrabs made during the Ilkhanid period, and one of only two outside Iran. Originally, the mihrab - dated Sha’ban 663 AH (May 1265 CE) and signed by its maker ‘Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Tahir - was located in the shrine of Imamzada Yahya in Veramin, Iran on the qibla wall indicating the direction of Mecca. This mihrab was acquired by Doris Duke from Hagop Kevorkian in 1940 and installed in her Honolulu home, orientated not toward Mecca but along an east-west axis. This paper will critically examine the shifting contextualization and interpretation of the artwork as it moved from sacred to secular environments, and between public and private spaces. How does the museum present additional layers of information about these changing cultural dialogues to visitors? How can the museum both hold space for the visitor’s multisensory appreciation of the work, while allowing space for critical dialogue surrounding the removal and - arguably - decontextualization of a sacred object?