The second museum in the Arab World joins the Google Art Project to make access to Islamic art just one click away
21st of May, Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah museum in Kuwait announced today in collaboration with Google that it is adding three high resolution artworks from their collection to the Google Art Project. The three artworks, including the “Timur Ruby”, a cobalt blue glaze jar and a limestone carved in relief were selected to become part of the Google Art Project. The resolution of these images, combined with a custom built zoom viewer, allows art-lovers to discover minute aspects of paintings they may never have seen up close before.
The partnership is part of a global expansion of Art Project, which now counts more than 250 partners around the globe. The latest additions bring 1,500 high resolution artworks to the site, taking the total number of high resolution objects and other artworks to more than 40,000. This makes the latest installment of the Google Art Project the largest one yet. Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah museum in Kuwait is the second museum in the Arab region to become part of the Google Art Project after the Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar last year.
“Sharing artefacts is a joy. Now more people can enjoy them through the Google Art Project.” stated Sheikha Hussah al-Sabah, Director General of Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah museum in Kuwait and co-owner of Al-Sabah collection.
The collaboration with the Google Art Project allows viewers to feast their eyes on the “Timur Ruby” a large spinel drop (249.31 carats), roughly teardrop shaped with a pronounced indentation on the lower right, of gabled section on the front and near flat at the back. the stone is transversely drilled at the upper end, and inscribed on the front with the names of six rulers. Another item on display is an exquisite cobalt blue glazed jar which is renowned for the fact that the names of both the maker, the owner and the city of manufacture is incorporated into the overall calligraphic design. Other items included in high resolution is a carved limestone relief which is one of very few architectural remains from the Umayyad citadel complex of Amman in Jordan.
Visitors to the Google Art Project can browse works by the artist’s name, the artwork, the type of art, the museum, the country, collections and the time period. Google+ and video hangouts are integrated on the site, allowing viewers to invite their friends to view and discuss their favourite works in a video chat or follow a guided tour from an expert to gain an appreciation of a particular topic or art collection.
The ‘My Gallery’ feature allows users to save specific views of any of artworks and build their own personalised gallery. Comments can be added to each painting and the whole gallery can then be shared with friends and family. It’s an ideal tool for students or groups to work on collaborative projects or collections. In addition, a feature called ‘Compare’ allows you to examine two pieces of artwork side-by-side to look at how an artist’s style evolved over time, connect trends across cultures or delve deeply into two parts of the same work.
“The collaboration between the Google Art Project and Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah museum in Kuwait enables the promotion and preservation of their artwork to a massive global audience. Together with them and our partners from around the world, the Google Art Project aims to inspire more people to discover their passion for art and come and visit the real thing for themselves.” stated Maha Abouelenein, Head of Communications for Google in the MENA region.
The Art Project is part of the Google Cultural Institute which is dedicated to creating technology that helps the cultural community to bring their art, archives, heritage sites and other material online. The aim is to increase the range and volume of material from the cultural world that is available for people to explore online and in doing so, democratise access to it and preserve it for future generations
For more information, please visit http://www.googleartproject.com/
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About Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah Museum
Dar al Athar al Islamiyyah (DAI) is a cultural organisation based around the private art collection owned by Sheikh Nasser Sabah al Ahmed al Sabah, founder of The al Sabah
Collection and his wife, DAI director general and co-founder Sheikha Hussah Sabah al Salem al Sabah. Since its inception in 1983, DAI has grown from a single focus organisation created to manage the loan of the prestigious al Sabah Collection of art from the Islamic world to the State of Kuwait to become an internationally recognised cultural organisation.
Growth hasn’t been limited to the role of the organisation, as the owners continue to foster the development of the collection, ensuring that all media and techniques are included.
As such, the collection preserves and presents all aspects of art, including extraordinary manuscripts, scientific instruments, carpets, jewellery, ceramic, metal work, wood and glass. It now includes more than 30,000 pieces from the full geographic and chronological range of the Islamic world, from Spain to China, from the 1st – 13th centuries AH/7 centuries AD. Today, the DAI’s main activities include:
An annual Cultural Season of lectures, music concerts, forum, workshops, and an active
children’s programme.
Organising travelling exhibitions and loaning objects to other museums.
Publication and international distribution of a quarterly magazine and newsletter.
Delivering training programmes for conservation of objects, docent training and a new programme for junior docents to encourage people to consider museum work professionally.
Research and archaeological excavation initiatives.
Publishing books to accompany our exhibitions and scholarly publications on particular aspects of the collection.
Organising annual cultural expeditions.
In addition, the DAI maintains two libraries. One includes a wide variety of books related to Islamic art and culture; the other houses an important collection of rare books. At present, the rare books are being scanned so that high quality digital versions of the books can be available for scholars and interested individuals.
While the rehabilitation project of the DAI’s buildings at the Kuwait National Museum is underway, the Amricani Cultural Centre is the home of DAI. The Amricani Cultural Centre currently has an exhibition entitled Splendors of the Ancient East an exhibition of antiquities from the collection alongside, the Story of Amricani a multi-media presentation describing how the building has changed since it was first built as a hospital complex in the early 20th – 19th century.
