From 26 January to 15 April 2012 at the British Museum in London visitors will be able to see the exhibition Hajj: journey to the heart of Islam. The artworks are revealing the panoramic view of Mecca. The objects will be loaned by the Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art to the British Museum.
Executed in ink and opaque watercolour by Muhammad ‘Abdullah, the Delhi cartographer commissioned by the Sharif of Mecca, the work extraordinary combines a plan of the city with a bird’s eye view of about 60 degrees. Other views appear on Hajj certificates issued to attest that pilgrims had completed the prescribed rites. Among those in the exhibition will be diagrammatic views of the holy sanctuaries at Mecca , Medina and Jerusalem executed in opaque watercolours, gold, silver and ink.
A view of the Prophet’s mosque at Medina showing the tomb of the Prophet under from the 17th or 18th century as does a view of the sanctuary at Mecca.
It was at Mecca that the Prophet Muhammad received the first revelations in the early 7th century AD and one of the Five Pillars of Islam requires every Muslim to make the pilgrimage there at least once in their lifetime.
At the heart of the sanctuary at Mecca lies the Ka‘bah, the holiest site in Islam which is a cube-shaped building that Muslims believe was built by Abraham and his son Ishmael.
The Khalili Collection is rich in textile art and has, after the Topkapı Sarayı in Istanbul, the largest group of textiles and objects relating to Mecca and Medina in the world. It is also the largest and most comprehensive in the world, encompassing the entire history of Islamic art from its beginnings in the 7th century to the present day.
Photo source
A.V.
January 26, 2012
