NEWS

‘Five Faiths Project’ continues with exhibition related to Islam

CHAPEL HILL -- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Ackland Art Museum continues its multiyear focus on five major religious faiths, called the "Five Faiths Project," with an upcoming installation related to the practice of Islam.

The mission of the "Five Faiths Project" is to employ art to educate a variety of audiences about five major religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism. Begun in 1996 in response to growing diversity across North Carolina, the project aims to teach respect and tolerance for all religions and features a guide for teachers seeking to introduce children to religious art.

"Word and Worship: Approaching Islam through Art," on view from Thursday (Aug. 15) through Dec. 29, draws on the museum’s permanent collection and a number of pieces on loan to introduce museum visitors to three subjects central to understanding Islam: the Qur’an, Arabic calligraphy and prayer.

In conjunction with the exhibition opening, the Ackland will have a reception from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Sunday (Aug. 18), followed at 7 p.m. by a public lecture by Dr. Daniel L. Pals on "Sacred Ground and Common Ground: Toward an Understanding of Religious Pluralism in a World of Religious Tension" at the Hanes Art Center auditorium. Both events are free to the public.

Pals, professor of history and religious studies at the University of Miami at Coral Gables, is the author of "Seven Theories of Religion" and "The Victorian ‘Lives’ of Jesus." His lecture divides religious endeavor broadly into three domains: artistic expression, theological assertion and moral action. He will consider the hazards and prospects for inter-faith understanding in each realm.

"The Ackland Art Museum exhibition provides a fantastic opportunity to see how art serves as a focus for spirituality for Muslims," said Dr. Carl Ernst, Zachary Smith professor within UNC’s department of religious studies. "One of the special highlights of the exhibition is the focus on Islam in North Carolina."

"Word and Worship" curator Carolyn Wood said great care was taken to incorporate suggestions and insights from public school teachers, UNC scholars, the Islamic Center of Raleigh, the Ar-Razzaq Islamic Center in Durham, UNC’s Muslim Student Association and others affiliated with North Carolina’s Muslim communities.

As a result of that collaborative effort, "Word and Worship" will feature a study center on Islam that includes photographs taken by North Carolina Muslim children; an audio CD of recitations in Arabic from the early suras, or chapters, of the Qur’an; and an educational brochure designed by UNC sociology assistant professor Dr. Charles Kurzman’s students.

In addition, Wood said, the Ackland has borrowed objects in current use by local Muslim communities and examples of Qur’anic calligraphy by contemporary calligraphers representing America and Pakistan.

The Qur’an is central to Islamic religious belief in all Islamic societies worldwide. For Muslims, the Qur’an is the literal word of God, revealed to the Prophet Muhammad by the angel Gabriel from ca. 610-632 C.E. Qur’anic calligraphy is the visual manifestation of the Qur’an, and Qur’anic inscriptions can be found on ritual objects such as the Ackland’s 15^th-century Syrian mosque lamp. The inscriptions also are found on every major work of architecture, such as the Ackland’s 16^th-century South Indian mosque lintel.

Reciting from the Qur’an is a critical part of the daily formal prayer ritual. Objects in "Word and Worship" related to prayer are the copies of the Qur’an, the prayer mat, a watch and compass with religious inscriptions and a mosque lamp.

The Sunday (Aug. 18) lecture is made possible by the Henry Luce Foundation, which also has provided the Ackland with funding for a three-year series of colloquies that bring art museum curators, religious educators, faculty, faith leaders and others together to discuss how to most responsibly employ art in the discussion of religion. "Word and Worship" is made possible in part by the William Hayes Ackland Trust.

For more information on the "Five Faiths Project," click on www.ackland.org/fivefaiths/. For more information on "Word and Worship," click on www.ackland.org/art/exhibitions/islam/preview.html.

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Ackland Art Museum contact: Andy Berner, (919) 966-5736