Wondrous Worlds

I went to the Phoenix Art Museum yesterday to see the recent exhibit called Wondrous World: Art & Islam Through Time & Place.  It features a vast collection of objects from the Newark Museum representing nearly every corner of the globe.

 I thought I'd show you my favorite pieces from the exhibit.  Above is just a scene I liked of two people watching the video that showed different mosques from all over the world.  They are sitting against the backdrop of those two colorful weavings.



To the left is a figure that was placed in a tomb.  It comes from China between the 8th and 11th centuries.  Isn't it exquisite?

This last piece is not as old as the one above.  This is a  textile made to commemorate the Festival National de la Jeunesse, a national youth festival in Agadez Niger.  It is from 1982.  It shows a figure wearing the blue turban and robe typical of the Tuareg culture.  The Tuareg are nomadic herders that graze animals in regions from Niger to Mali, Burkina Faso, Algeria, Libya and Mauritania.  In other words, they travel very long distances.

It really is a beautiful exhibit.