A Quran with a special story

Ithra’s Islamic civilization gallery ‘Kunooz’ (translates to Treasures) represents a unique undertaking. For the first time, a Saudi cultural  institution is devoting resources, and a permanent space, to the study, preservation and exhibition of Islamic visual culture in the broadest sense. This gallery offers a unique opportunity to reconnect Islamic cultural objects with the people, regions and communities in which they originated, but also presents curators with the broader challenge of connecting Saudi audiences to the wider Muslim world, including often peripheral, and overlooked regions and cultures in Sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia as well as the far east.

Many visitors to the gallery are pleasantly surprised to find Islamic objects from China on display. For example, this 18th century copy of the Holy Qur’an, made in 30 parts, was hand written by a Chinese master calligrapher for use by Chinese Muslims. As such, placing this Chinese made Qur’an in Ithra’s gallery not only challenges misconceptions about Muslims and Islam, but broadens horizons about what constitutes the collective Islamic cultural identity for Saudi audiences in relation to the rest of the Muslim world.

Written by Idries Trevathan, the Curator of Islamic Art at Ithra.