Curator-led Tours – FOCUS on Qatari Jewellery

with Tamadur Al Shamlan

20 November, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
MIA's special exhibition for the Year of Culture Qatar India is an exploration of precious stones and their use in the Indian Royal Courts. Join MIA Researchers who were part of the curatorial team for a focus on the final section of the exhibition and see how Indian trade and design has influenced the production of Qatari jewellery.

Meet in the MIA Atrium. This tour will be given in Arabic.

Dance Fesitval

Families

22 November, 2:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Throughout the afternoon come and see traditional dances from across India performed by our local schools and dance groups. In celebration of the Qatar India Year of Culture. Venue: MIA Atrium

Jewelled Jade and Limpid Rock Crystal: Hardstones at the Mughal court in the 17th and 18th centuries

with Susan Stronge, Senior Curator, Victoria & Albert Museum

26 November 2019, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
In the early years of the reign of Jahangir (r.1605-27), a new material began to be used within the royal workshops. Nephrite jade, imported from Khotan, is extremely difficult to work. It cannot be carved but must be laboriously worn away to produce the required forms and surface ornamentation. The tools used to work jade are the same as those for rock crystal, a material with which the imperial craftsmen were already familiar. This lecture examines the origins of jade production at the Mughal court, and the parallel fabrication of rock crystal wine cups, dagger hilts and caskets of superlative quality.

Join us for a lecture by Susan Stronge, Senior Curator in the Asian Department of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. She specializes in the arts of the Sikh and Muslim courts of the Indian subcontinent, and curated the award-winning 1999 exhibition, The Arts of the Sikh Kingdoms. A prolific author, her books include Painting for the Mughal Emperor, Tipu’s Tigers and Bejewelled Treasures: The Al Thani Collection.

MIA Auditorium This lecture will be translated in to Arabic.