Muslim patrons bring touch of the East to museums

Wealthy Middle Eastern philanthropists are bringing eastern treasures and fabrics to a wider audience in Britain by funding a wave of collections of Islamic art at nationally important galleries.

Wealthy Middle Eastern philanthropists are bringing eastern treasures and fabrics to a wider audience in Britain by funding a wave of collections of Islamic art at nationally important galleries.

The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford is the latest beneficiary of the millions of pounds that have been donated over recent years by generous Muslim patrons.

Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud, the Saudi Arabian Defence Minister, saidhis £2m contribution would help to build a home for the Ashmolean's renowned Islamic collection. The gift is also funding 10 scholarships for Saudi students at Oxford University.

The money will enable the museum to show treasures that have been previously hidden from public view because of a lack of display space, including the largest collection of Muslim Gujarat printed cotton fragments and the earliest examples in existence of Ikat (colourful fabric) robes from central Asia.

The new gallery will be double the size of the existing space, in a development which echoes that under way at the Victoria and Albert museum in London.

At the V&A, a £5.4m donation from a prominent Saudi family, the Jameels, whose company includes the Hartwell property and car firm, is paying for a new home for its acclaimed collection of Islamic art which will open next year.

And on the horizon is the prospect of a new gallery in London, funded by Professor Nasser Khalili, an Iranian-born collector, to house his large and valuable private collection of Islamic art as well as other works.

At a time when the Muslim world is under the international spotlight as almost never before, promoting Islamic culture is viewed as an important exercise in understanding and bridge-building.

Christopher Brown, director of the Ashmolean, said Prince Sultan's financial aid was extremely generous. The gallery will be named after the prince.

Mr Brown said: "The donation will enable the Ashmolean to present Islamic culture to an even wider audience than before and it will make it possible for us to increase the understanding and knowledge of Islamic culture in the United Kingdom. It is entirely appropriate that this gift comes from Saudi Arabia, the guardian of the most holy places of Islam."

A spokeswoman for Professor Khalili, who is still looking for an appropriate location for his gallery, said he was keen on promoting greater understanding.

In addition to his gallery plans, he has also endowed a chair of Islamic art at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and a centre for Islamic art. Some of his own collection was exhibited at Somerset House in London last year.

"It is certainly at the back of his mind that art bridges geographical and diplomatic borders," the spokeswoman said.

But Tim Stanley, senior curator in charge of the V&A's Islamic art gallery, said he thought Arabs were supporting Islamic art just as Toshiba had supported the new Japanese art gallery, Samsung had backed the Korean art gallery and Dr T T Tsui, a Hong Kong-based art collector and philanthropist, had given money towards the Chinese art gallery.

"It fits a broader pattern, really," he said. "Obviously it's more of an issue at the moment. Since the beginning of this decade it's become more high profile. But I'm not very keen on the hysterical treatment of the Middle East and Arabs. In this case, they're behaving like everybody else. [Their art] is a source of pride."

As some countries in the Middle East had become wealthier, there was a growing interest in their art. Both Kuwait and Qatar, for instance, had developed significant collections of Islamic art in recent years.

The philanthropists

* Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art at the Victoria and Albert to open next year.

This is being paid for by the Jameel family in memory of the late founder of the Abdul Latif Jameel Group. The £5.4m gift will enable the V&A to display one of the world's finest collections of Islamic art.

Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud Gallery at the Ashmolean, Oxford.

A donation from the Saudi Defence Minister will pay for a new gallery twice the size of the existing space which will enable the display of treasures previously hidden from public view. It is part of a £49m redevelopment campaign.

New gallery of Islamic art to be built by Professor Nasser Khalili.

The Iranian-born collector and philanthropist, who showed some of his vast collection at Somerset House, London, last year, is looking for a central London site to build and endow a gallery. It would also include his Japanese art, Swedish textiles and Spanish metalwork.