Walking a Tightrope: Museum of Islamic Art, Aga Khan Trust for Culture, and the making of 'Empire of Light' in Doha

Speaker: Nicolleta Fazio (Curator of Iran and Central Asia at the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha)

Chair: Professor Scott Redford 

Islamic Art Circle joint lecture with the Indian Art Circle

Abstract

This talk offers an overview of the exhibition Empire of Light: Visions and Voices of Afghanistan (5 February - 31 May 2026), its genesis and development, and takes the audience through some of the many bends, turns, and bumps that eventually made it a reality.

Setting up an exhibition is more than placing objects in showcases. As a public event exposed to all sorts of visitors, it is intrinsically a political act. Topic and title selection already give an idea of its direction and main messages. When the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) was asked to organise, in partnership with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), an exhibition on Afghanistan's historical and architecture heritage, this evidently presented a unique opportunity and compelling challenge. 

Moving away from narratives which freeze the country in a glorious past or stark images of a sadly well-known present, the organisers took an expansive approach and invited visitors to embark on a wild ride from the pre-Islamic past to present times.

Speaker

Nicoletta Fazio is Curator of Iran and Central Asia at the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha. A medievalist by training, she received her PhD from the University of Heidelberg. Prior to joining MIA, she was Research Fellow at the Freie Universität and Junior Curator at the Museum für Islamische Kunst, Berlin. Her fields of interest include comparative manuscript studies, textile history, and radical museology.

Queries: rw51@soas.ac.uk

Images: Nicoletta Fazio