2019 A YEAR IN REVIEW Contents 2 Messages from the Chairman of the Board, and our Director and CEO 4 Thought Leadership 10 Centre for Innovation and Creativity 18 Museum Without Walls 24 Changing Perceptions Together OUR MISSION The Aga Khan Museum is dedicated to fostering a greater understanding and appreciation of the many major contributions Muslim civilizations have made to our common world heritage. CHANGING PERCEPTIONS Changing Perceptions is at the heart of everything the Museum does to bring together communities from across the world using the universally accessible language of art. Through a wide array of innovative exhibitions and public programs, the Museum continues to proudly play an important role in fostering understanding and in building bridges across our fractured world. AGA KHAN MUSEUM | 2019 A YEAR IN REVIEW 1 WE SET RECORDS WE CELEBRATED WE COLLABORATED We welcomed This year marked We partnered with more than 169,298 5 years 80 visitors from around the world of connecting communities artists, collectors, and through our doors. through art and culture. organizations to enrich our exhibitions and programming. MESSAGE FROM PRINCE AMYN AGA KHAN, MESSAGE FROM HENRY S. KIM, CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD DIRECTOR AND CEO As I reflect upon the Aga Khan Museum’s first five years, The Museum’s fifth-anniversary year was indeed a A YEAR IN REVIEW I am struck by how our mission has become even more remarkable one. While recording our highest attendance 2019 was a milestone year for us: relevant in the light of world events. With tensions ever, we also demonstrably deepened our engagement seemingly rising and conflict threatening a number with audiences, reaching new communities and of regions, there is a growing need to find ways in venturing into new types of programming. which people can learn to understand one another, WE OPENED MINDS WE EXPANDED to celebrate what unites our many cultures although The Moon: A Voyage Through Time, our blockbuster ACCESS they may seem diverse and distinct, and to change exhibition, captured the imaginations of people from a myriad of cultural backgrounds who came together 8,825 perceptions through dialogue. students and to experience how the moon connects them to others. 21,706 I believe that the Museum has an important role to We united thousands of people with our summertime play in today’s world: that is, showing the power of the festivals to celebrate Canada Day, Toronto’s historic 1,200 visitors arts to unite minds in recognizing their beauty and that NBA Finals win, and to mark the 50th anniversary of teachers benefited from our they reflect shared humanity. Together with our many the Apollo 11 lunar landing. participated in our Free Wednesdays program. partners, this museum creates a living link between school programs. past and present, between Muslim and non-Muslim We spread our wings creatively with artistic residencies, societies, and most importantly: between people. such as the Seeing Through Babel project at the Ismaili Centre, London; a musical incubator project in I am pleased that our Board has renewed its commitment Gros Morne, Newfoundland; and the contemporary to making the Museum a leading educational voice, travelling exhibition Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From, WE INVESTED locally and internationally, for promoting diversity, organized in partnership with Luciano Benetton’s IN THE FUTURE pluralism, and the arts and cultures of the Muslim world. Fondazione Imago Mundi. Our eyes are set on the future and the important part We raised we can play in the years to come. Not least of all, we received record generosity from our supporters who believe in the crucial need for our work. I thank each and every one of them for their leadership WE WENT GLOBAL $8.83 million and for putting trust in our tremendous potential to through the tremendous build on these initiatives well into the future. We held 2 international exhibitions generosity of donors, sponsors, and over 30 programs Friends, and Patrons’ Circle outside Toronto. supporters. 2 2019 A YEAR IN REVIEW | AGA KHAN MUSEUM AGA KHAN MUSEUM | 2019 A YEAR IN REVIEW 3 Annual Lecturer Deborah Ahenkorah speaks to the St. René Goupil Catholic Elementary School Choir before Thought their performance. Leadership Annual Lecture: The Power of Literature to Change Minds In our fifth Annual Lecture, we presented a visionary “This Museum contributes to who is changing the world’s literary landscape. Deborah Ahenkorah, a Ghanaian social entrepreneur and winner of understanding, understanding the 2019 Global Pluralism Award, spoke to the profound ways that stories shape perceptions from the earliest contributes to dialogue, and stages of childhood. This idea informs her vital work: publishing children’s literature that reflects diverse cultures. The lecture was accompanied by a special dialogue contributes to peace.” performance from the St. René Goupil Catholic Elementary School Choir, comprised of children in grades three to — The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, eight who were born in Nigeria, Kenya, and Canada. 26th Governor General of Canada AGA KHAN MUSEUM | 2019 A YEAR IN REVIEW 5 EXHIBITION EXHIBITION THE MOON: A VOYAGE THROUGH TIME “We all look up to it. We all CARAVANS OF GOLD, FRAGMENTS IN TIME: ART, CULTURE, AND EXCHANGE An enormously popular exhibition, The Moon: A Voyage are illuminated by it. And Through Time captivated 95,000 visitors with new perspectives it breaks the terror of ACROSS MEDIEVAL SAHARAN AFRICA on the enduring role the moon has played across all human darkness in the night. For We brought a groundbreaking exhibition to Toronto that societies. We created the exhibition to provide a focal point revealed how Islamic Africa was at the heart of the medieval for people to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 us, it is a symbol of hope, world. Featuring masterpieces from Mali, Morocco, and lunar landing, while underscoring the moon’s particular and we project our desires Nigeria never before seen in Canada, the exhibition importance in the life, art, and culture of the Muslim world. onto it.” broadened our understanding of this time period, Critically acclaimed as “ethereal,” “peaceful,” and “mystical,” presenting a more reciprocal and inclusive narrative. — Dr. Christiane Gruber, the exhibition showcased multidisciplinary scholarship by Exhibition Curator Caravans of Gold was created by our partner the Block leading thinkers throughout history and invited audiences to Museum of Art at Northwestern University, and will travel in respond creatively as well as to capture in words and music, 2020 to the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art. the shared sense of wonder the moon continues to inspire. PARTNERED PROGRAM VIRTUAL TOUR WITH STUDENTS IN BAMAKO, MALI We developed an innovative model for future global programs when we brought the Museum to an audience half a world away. 150 high school students in Bamako, Mali, were taken on a virtual visit of Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time. The students convened at the Parc National du Mali for the live video tour, along with directors and curators of important Malian cultural organizations Dr. Ulrike Al-Khamis with Dr. Roberta Bondar, such as the National Museum (Bamako) and Ahmad Baba Exhibition curator Dr. Michael Chagnon Canada’s first female astronaut, and Institute of Higher Learning and Islamic Research (Timbuktu). speaks from Toronto to high school The Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, This program was presented in collaboration with the students in Bamako, Mali. Lieutenant Governor of Ontario Musée National du Mali and the AKDN. 6 THOUGHT LEADERSHIP | AGA KHAN MUSEUM AGA KHAN MUSEUM | 2019 A YEAR IN REVIEW 7 Panelists (from left to right): Dr. Sharon Cohen, Melissa Tafler, Kendelle LaBella, and Berna Huebner. PARTNERED PROGRAM PARTNERED PROGRAM MINDING MEMORY: MUSEUM WITH NO FRONTIERS ALZHEIMER’S AND THE ARTS We became a Presenting Partner of the Museum with We ventured into the important domain of art therapy with No Frontiers project which aims to build bridges through a symposium and film screenings about the powerful scholarship, knowledge, and understanding in the field of therapeutic benefits of art for those living with dementia. Islamic art. Fifty of the most important artworks from the Featuring doctors, advocates, and researchers, the Aga Khan Museum Collection will be presented on the symposium allowed us to connect with new audiences and organization’s website, alongside collections from 52 partner create meaningful partnerships with the Alzheimer Society of institutions around the world, including: the Topkapı Palace Toronto, Baycrest Health Sciences, the Hilgos Foundation, Museum (Istanbul), Victoria and Albert Museum (London), and the Toronto Memory Program all of which collaborated Princess Yasmin Aga Khan provides opening remarks at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), Museum of in the delivery of the Minding Memory programming. the Minding Memory panel. Islamic Art (Berlin), The David Collection (Copenhagen), the Arts Museum Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), and the Museum of Islamic Art (Doha). Bettina Forget Moon Craters, Exoplanets, and Galactic Revolutions Umair Jaffar Dr. Filiz Çakır Phillip Qawwali Music in The Art of Chivalry in Contemporary Pakistan Mughal India EDUCATION Aga Khan Museum Staff Kevork Mourad Behind the Scenes of LUNCHTIME TALK SERIES Carving into Memory Our First Five Years Dr. Ulrike Al-Khamis Over 950 attendees participated in our Lunchtime Talk Dr. Michael Chagnon Of Blossoms and Rabbits series. Presented as part of our commitment to offering Travels in Africa: Dr. Ingrid Hehmeyer Word and Image accessible learning opportunities, we feature staff, artists, The Moon in Islamic Astronomy and scholars in a dynamic range of monthly talks that are Dr. Mariam Rosser-Owen Kiana Hayeri Ivory and Gold: Islamic Spain free with Museum admission. Building Narratives, and the Trans-Saharan Trade One Photograph at a Time Guest speakers (from left to right): Dr. Michael Chagnon, Ekow Nimako Picking up the Pieces: Dr.