Discover Islamic Art is a virtual museum portal facilitated by the nonprofit organization Museum With No Frontiers that invites visitors to explore the art and material culture of Islamic societies throughout the Mediterranean region. This multifaceted site offers several avenues for discovery. Visitors may like to start by checking out the artistic introduction, where they can learn the basics of Islamic art and architecture in accordance with ten different themes such as the Umayyads, the Muslim West, and the Ottomans, then move on to the site's eighteen virtual exhibitions. Readers can also browse the museum's objects and monuments by country, period/dynasty, and date in the permanent collection, or search the database by keyword. The intriguing timeline section allows readers to generate a chronology after choosing among 15 countries in the Mediterranean and Europe along with a range of centuries. Learn with MWNF leads to a set of Flash-based interactive educational activities. In its present incarnation, Discover Islamic Art is the combination of two virtual museum efforts: one by the same name that was created in collaboration with 14 partner countries from 2004-2007, and another entitled Exploring Islamic Art Collections that launched in 2009 and brought together 52 collections in 22 countries.
Comments