January 19, 1965
A newly installed gallery displaying The Arts of Islam and the Indian East opens at The Brooklyn Museum January 19. The objects, illustrating hundreds of years of artistic and cultural development over a vast geographical area, were created under the spiritual influence of Muhammadanism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.
Since the Islamic religion does not use images for veneration or worship, objects produced under its influence were primarily utilitarian and decorative. On the other hand, the essential purpose of sculpture and painting in India, Nepal, Tibet, Thailand and Cambodia was to serve as an aid to worship and to act as an intermediary between the invisible divinity and his worshippers.
Islamic art in the gallery comes mostly from Iran but there are also objects from parts of the Islamic East including Egypt, Iraq, India, Syria and Turkey. Exhibited are ceramics from the 9th - 18th centuries, bronzes from the 9th - 14th centuries, miniature paintings from the 14th - 17th centuries, textile fragments from the 9th - 19th centuries and rugs from the 16th - 19th centuries.
Indian art, dating from the 3rd millennium B.C. to the 19th century A.D., includes mainly sculpture and painting. Also on view are archaeological remains of the centuries before Christ, decorative textiles of the 17th century and architectural ornaments of the 18th century, including the richly carved porch of a Jain rest house.
The art of Nepal, Tibet, Thailand and Cambodia, principally stone and metal sculpture, illustrates the forceful influence of Indian Art and culture farther east.
The installation of the gallery was made possible by the Community Committee of The Brooklyn Museum.
Members of the press are cordially invited to view the gallery all day Monday, January 18.
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1953 - 1970. 1965, 015 View Original
