Katie Boucher
Excerpts:
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For Charles Pocock, what started seven years ago as a desire to broaden his knowledge of Islamic art for his work in an art dealership in London has escalated into a habit beneath which his Ikea shelves are literally collapsing. “We have books on modern Arabic and ancient Islamic art and architecture; every area is covered,” he says, gesturing expansively at the hundreds of books filling the wobbly-looking self-assembly units that line his office walls. “And when it’s not covered, I know that in a couple of months, I’ll realise, `You know what? I’ve got no books on Islamic gardens. I want to know more about Islamic gardens.’ Then I’ll go and buy every single book ever written about Islamic gardens.” This compulsive attitude to collecting smacks of more than just a desire to learn. Either way, this library, which has books dating back to the 10th century and contains several antique Quranic manuscripts, is growing at an impressive rate. “I spend about an hour a day scanning websites and there are book dealers who know what we’re looking for, so they contact us as soon as they have something.”
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He has plans to make the Noor Library of Islamic Art (so named after his young daughter) available to a wider audience. “We want to create a proper reading room and put into place a system where students or experts can come and make use of this incredible source of information. Education is so important and people should have access to it.” Part of his reason for this philanthropic gesture is the scarcity of books on Islamic art in the UAE, according to Pocock. However, with the redevelopment plans looming for the Al Quoz district in Dubai, where Meem Gallery is located, he is holding off on his grand vision for the moment. “Eventually, we’d like to utilise the system put into place by the Aga Khan, whose Islamic art library at Harvard and MIT is second to none.” As such, Pocock intends to implement a formal indexing system with separate areas dedicated to subjects such as manuscripts, weapons, jewellery and scientific instruments.
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Ismailimail 