Museum of Islamic Arts to Host “Suez Canal Through Ages” Night

By: Ali Abu-Dashish

CAIRO, Dec. 28 (SEE)- In line with the collaboration between the Museum of Islamic Arts and the Suez Canal Authority, the museum will hold tomorrow evening a temporary exhibition entitled “Suez Canal Through Ages” in celebration of the 115th opening anniversary of the museum and 149th anniversary of the opening of the canal, in the presence of Minister of Antiquities Dr. Khaled Al-Anany.

Elham Salah, the Head of the Museums Sector, said that the exhibition will showcase various pieces from the Suez Canal Museum that depict excavations history including models of two ships and photographs of prominent figures that is connected with the canal including Ferdinand de Lesseps, Khepe Ismail and the late President Gamal Abdel-Nasser.

In the same context, during January the Historical Museum of Suez Canal in the city of Ismailia will hold another temporary museum of antiquities related to the Museum of Islamic Arts including some historical paintings dating back to the modern era and photographs of the exhibition halls and some antiquarian holdings in addition to the founding painting of the Museum of Islamic Art.

In his part, Dr. Mamdouh Othman, the general Director of the Museum of Arts, noted that on the sidelines of the celebration a performance by the ‘Sultan AlAreifein’ band will be presented besides workshops to educate attendees on ships manufacturing. 

Othman added that the Museum of Islamic Art embraces rare collections that portray islamic art from various countries namely India, China, Iran, Sham, Egypt, North Africa, Andalusia and the Arabian Peninsula. 

Historically, in 1869 the idea of establishing the Museum of Arts and Islamic Antiquities was initiated amidst the era of Khepe Ismail, yet plans were put into action in the era of Khepe Tawfik in 1880.

The opening of the current museum was commenced in the time of Khepe Abbas Helmy II on the 28th of December in 1903, then its title was changed into the Museum of Islamic Arts. In-between 1983 and 1984 a critical expansion stage in which a number of halls have been established then a land that was occupied by a gas station have been transformed into a museum garden and a cafeteria