At the July 11, 2022 OWL membership meeting and luncheon, we had the pleasure of hearing from Dr. Leslee Michelsen, Curator of Collections & Exhibitions at Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture & Design in Honolulu. She provided insight on Islamic art and the role Shangri La plays in providing access and promoting Islamic art.
Doris Duke collected and commissioned Islamic art and essentially built Shangri La around that art. Shangri La is now the only museum in the United States wholly dedicated to Islamic Art.
The Islamic world is larger than most people realize, with over 1 billion Islamic people in the world. Although Hawaii isn’t a place of Islamic majority, Shangri La aims to create an artistic ecosystem deeply connected to the Islamic world.
Shangri La works to nurture the richness of interactions through supporting artists & makers via commissions as well as having artists in residence (digital, performing and/or visual artists). This allows the community to learn directly from artists. One key takeaway is sharing the diversity of the Islamic world. Islamic art is not one thing, and like all art it is not just religious. It is important to remember that the community and discussions that art can foster is vital to all cultures.
“Art is always an opportunity to talk about people.” - Dr. Michelsen
The board will work with Dr. Michelsen to see if a tour of Shangri La can be arranged for OWL members.
(Thank you to Holly Hayashi for the write up!)
