Eleventh International Conference on The Inclusive Museum

Abstract

The first, and probably only, privately-funded museum in the United States dedicated solely to the arts and culture of the Islamic world was founded in Jackson, Mississippi. The International Museum of Muslim Cultures opened its doors in 2001 and has welcomed almost 10,000 visitors annually from all over the world since that date and has hosted two major exhibits, “Islamic Moorish Spain” and “Legacy of Timbuktu.” This paper explores the powerful impact this small museum has had on the local and regional community located “in the heart of Dixie.” Using the concept of the museum as shared social action, and not just an environment to be experienced, I argue that a well-designed and thoughtfully-curated museum presentation of the arts of the Islamic world can address cultural prejudices and result in transformative social action. A visual, aural, and tactile encounter with calligraphy, architecture, music, and the decorative arts can be more powerful than a fiery sermon; more persuasive than a religious debate. What is at work here is the dynamic interaction of past, present, and future. The museum was founded by shared social action in the present (the creation of the museum), to convey a representation and celebration of the products of past social action (the creation of the Islamic arts in Timbuktu), in order to motivate and inspire contemporary and future transformative social action.