Lucien de Guise: A tale of two sides to one sweltering city

This article is written by the curator of an Islamic arts museum in Malaysia. He is sharing his thoughts upon landing in London and then visiting the Ismaili Centre to see the ‘Spirit & Life’ exhibition. Highly recommend you read the whole article.

Lucien de Guise: A tale of two sides to one sweltering city

By : Lucien de Guise

A RETURN visit to the town of my birth is always a memorable experience. The gateway is still Heathrow Airport, an unpromising start to any holiday. If this is the level of welcome that London offers, it is amazing that more people don’t look at the queue for Channel 3 (non-European Union passport holders) and go for voluntary repatriation.
Even the English have begun to realise what a third-rate introduction to their country this provides. Its main appeal is to long-distance walkers in training.

Once you have made the trip into London, the situation doesn’t always improve.

As soon as the weather picked up recently, which meant going from floods to a heat wave of 30°C overnight, there was a spontaneous shedding of clothes.

A hot weekend after weeks of rain means it is time for the locals to get their kit off. Hectares of wobbly white flesh were exposed, often exacerbated by the use of a bicycle.

The metropolis was turned into what looked like day release for inmates from an institution for the vitamin-D deprived. The shock is greater if you have stepped off a plane from Malaysia, where a different attitude to public semi-nudity is rare and sun worship non-existent among the population.

There was a sanctuary of Malaysian values that weekend, however.

The exhibition “Spirit & Life: Masterpieces of Islamic Art” from the Aga Khan Museum Collection has impressive air-conditioning, sumptuous surroundings and respectably-attired visitors.

Never has it been more obvious how different the British museum-goer is from the sort of person who wears an England football jersey when he has to be dressed, and nothing when the weather warms up a bit.

I can understand why in the UK, Muslims get agitated. They would have been happy at the Ismaili Centre as it was filled with the first type of Briton.

These are people so determined to be respectful, they would put on a three-piece wool suit in a heatwave if they were asked to.

Most conspicuous of all was the number of visitors. Bearing in mind that all this was happening at an Islamic institution, it might come as a surprise to those visitors to Britain who feel a Muslim name is not much of an asset when they present their passport to the immigration officer.

The Ismaili Centre in South Kensington seems to be a reassuring force for the British public.

This is not the norm for an Islamic-art exhibition. Having been to quite a few, I haven’t usually seen much more than the security guards taking an interest.

A lot of people were intrigued by “Spirit and Life” and they were very different from the great unclothed masses of Londoners.

At the same time, the Shia Ismaili hosts are a different cup of chai from the men with big beards from London’s East End who feature so often in the British media. There weren’t many of them at the show.

For those Brits who are not madrassa alumni, there is enough at the exhibition to convince them that they made the right decision. The exhibits are eye-catching and wide ranging, including everything from an eighth-century Quran leaf to 19th-century musical instruments.

There are also a few display innovations, such as a gravestone on a slowly revolving stand.

This is dynamic and at the same time allows you to see how a North African craftsman 1,000 years ago put an older Roman architectural fragment to practical new use. Two cultures for the price of one. This shows the versatility of Muslim craftsmen of the past.

Craftsmen of the present are another feature of the exhibition. Aga Khan, 49th hereditary Imam of the Ismaili Muslims, has tied up with another royal with an interest in Islamic culture.

Prince Charles’ country house, Highgrove, is famous for its Islamic garden, and The Prince’s School of Traditional Arts was present at the Ismaili Centre with a number of activities to excite visitors.

At most museums, these attractions tend to be reserved for children. As the youth element at “Spirit & Life” was small, artists from the Prince’s School were happy to put on a demonstration for older visitors.

The adults were enraptured by the sight of calligraphers, illuminators and a man with a pair of compasses who did remarkable things using geometry. It all made a pleasant change from the usual view of Shia Islam. Iran and Iraq have been the biggest news source on this subject lately.

It can’t be said that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or mass self-flagellation is an inspirational sight. Ismailis are in a different category, and there could be few more civilised spiritual leaders than the Aga Khan.

In a city that is famed for being just about the most expensive in the world, all this was offered for free. Further good value was provided by top-quality postcards at a mere 20 pence each (RM1.40) and a lovely catalogue with a useful overview of Ismaili history.

The whole venture managed to do an extremely good job of convincing people that Islamic art is something worth seeking out on one of those rare Sundays when London swelters.

Lucien de Guise is curator at the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia.

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