Islamic Book Arts

On Friday, I took a day off and went to an exhibit here at the art museum on campus. The exhibit was on Islamic Book Arts.

It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. There really is no professional way to put my reaction into one word, so that is as good as it will get, people.

They had everything from medieval texts from the beginnings of Islam all the way up to present works of art, one of which was a print from a campus artist that was a mirrored tulip done by marbling paper. I cannot even describe it.

I had seen gorgeous works of medieval genius in WMU's library collection, but the Lilly Library's collection, I am sorry (but also excited) to say, blew me away. The richness of the manuscripts they have is astounding. Just the covers of the books are enough to take your breath away. The pages were covered in Arabic text, which is beautiful in its own right, surrounded by delicate patterns and Persian designs. Some of the lines, you could tell, had been painted using a brush with just one or two hairs in it. If the book artist had simply exhaled incorrectly while working, his work would have been ruined! I had to wonder at one point what happened to the eyesight of the person who created the works?

There were also single leaves out of books with beautiful portraits of important people. One of them was so detailed that you could see each and every hair in his beard. It was almost creepy.

The Lilly Library also houses a collection of books published in the 1700s from one publisher that focuses on maps. The maps they had displayed were of the "New World." The differences in people's interpretation of the coasts of North and South America was comical but educational. One map showed California as an island, completely separate from N. America.

Most of the exhibition came from the Lilly Library. The Lilly received most (if not all) pieces from one or two donors. It is so exciting to me that someone spent all their lives collecting these things, then upon their death, rather than letting their kids (or grandkids) sell their collections, they had them donated to a large research library. If you saw these pieces, you would understand my excitement. These pieces belong to the public for viewing and research, they do not belong locked up in someones personal library, where only a few people can appreciate and enjoy them.

If you ever get the chance, you need to come down to the Lilly and take a look at what they have. Their collections are amazing!