Fragmentations: From collections of lusterware to museum narratives

ID: WMA2026_642

Track:

In a groundbreaking program at the Shangri-La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture & Design, PhD student Hossein Nakhaei was invited to explore their collection of Persian luster tiles. The institution opened itself to meaningful critique as he focused on their most prized possession, a luster mihrab, one of only six in the world. Learn what happened when they connected via zoom with community members standing in front of the empty space where the mihrab once belonged. 

Session Information

Format: Regular session/panel (roundtable, single speaker, etc.)

Uniqueness: Nakhaei will be joined by Navid Najafi, Shangri-La Associate Director of Programs and Social Practice, to unpack “celebrated” pieces and institutional narratives, and inviting audience members to reflect on their own circumstances.

Objectives: Audience members will (1) learn about an innovative scholar-in-residence program that is replicable; (2) consider who “owns” collections, the stories they hold, and who should be engaged; and (3) reflect on their own institutions, missions, and collections.

Engagement: The audience will be invited to engage with those next to them around a series of questions raised by the panelists.  Whose narrative is reflected in your museum’s origin story? Does your institution have a “celebrated” item? How much do you really know about it?

Relationship to Theme:

Audience

Audiences: Curators/Scientists/Historians Other Registrars, Collections Managers 

Professional Level: All levels 

Scalability: This scholar-in-residence program is definitely replicable and can be applied, especially in any collections-based institution. The opportunity to engage with young scholars in questioning our own collections is not however, for the faint of heart.

Participants