@museumwnf/sculptures-data 1.0.2 → 1.0.4

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-{"01ed0e00-4aed-5afc-bdea-937514669d4b":{"name":"Victoria and Albert Museum","description":"The Victoria and Albert (V&A) is the world’s leading museum of art and design, with collections unrivalled in their scope and diversity. When the museum opened to the public in 1852, its mission was to reform design by making works of art available to all, improving the public’s understanding of the subject and providing inspiration for designers and manufacturers. Today, the V&A’s collections span over 5,000 years of human creativity in virtually every medium and from many parts of the world.  \n  \nThe V&A comprises a family of sites, including the V&A in South Kensington, Young V&A located in Bethnal Green, V&A Dundee in Scotland, the V&A Wedgwood Collection housed in Barlaston, Stoke-on-Trent, V&A Gallery at Design Society in Shekou, China, and opening in 2024/25 will be V&A East located within the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford. Across these sites the museum showcases their collections to a wide range of audiences and aims to champion design and creativity in all its forms.  \n  \nThe V&A has specialised in collecting art and design from the Islamic world since the 1850s, and it was the first institution in the world to collect Islamic art in a systematic fashion. The museum's founders believed that Islamic ideas about structuring patterns and matching decoration to shape and function could improve British design. The collection grew to become the most significant in its field. Outstanding works include the AH 10th / AD 16th-century Ardabil carpet from Iran, a rock crystal ewer from AH 5th / AD 11th-century Egypt, and the world’s greatest collections of Islamic ceramics. The museum also houses the national collection of Islamic textiles.","city":"London","address":"Cromwell Road  \nSouth Kensington  \nSW7 2RL  \nLondon  \nUnited Kingdom","website":"http://www.vam.ac.uk","phone":"+44 207 9422000","fax":"+44 207 9422335"},"0cf029c2-3b3c-5f0a-8926-e552386ea3b2":{"name":"National Museum of Decorative Arts","description":"The National Museum of Decorative Arts (MNAD) devotes its permanent collection to historical and current domestic spaces and allows visitors to experience the daily life of various cultures. Temporary exhibitions focus primarily on the contemporary designers and artists – both established and emerging – that create our environment. Through these visiting exhibits, the museum is able to display parts of the permanent collection kept in storage and generally not visible to the public.  \n  \nThe museum houses a permanent collection of over 70,000 objects from several geographic origins; mainly Spain, but also other European countries and the Far East. The collection covers a long chronological period. The oldest pieces date from the 4th century BC, but the chronological sequence goes from the 14th century until the first half of the 21st century, including the collection of avant-garde design as well as recent acquisitions of contemporary design.  \n  \nThis broad collection includes a full range of materials, techniques and typologies, including textiles, metalwork, furniture, ceramics, glass, costumes, silver, ironwork, ivory, photographs, prints and documents.  \n  \nIn 1934 the museum moved to its present location, a mansion built in 1878 by the architect José María González for Doña María del Carmen Espinosa, the Duchess of Santoña. Part of the original red-brick and stone facade, the imperial staircase of white Italian marble decorated with medallions and the Italian mosaic floors by Pellerin and Domenico still remain from the original concept of the building, a residence in the Romantic style. In the 1940s the architect Luis Moya added two floors above the original ones, structured in enfilade around a central court. Since then, the museum has undergone various improvements.","city":"Madrid","address":"C/ Montalbán, 12  \n28014 Madrid  \nSpain","website":"http://mnartesdecorativas.mcu.es/","phone":"+34 91 532 64 99","fax":"+34 91 523 20 86","email":"mnad@mecd.es"},"159ca886-fdb4-5a93-98ef-f31ba3dd0b6b":{"name":"Technological Glass Museum. Royal Factory of Glass and Crystal of La Granja","description":"The Museo Tecnológico del Vidrio is located in the old Real Fábrica de Cristales de La Granja, one of the most important 18th Century European Industrial buildings and a truly distinguishing part of the Real Sitio de San Ildefonso and all its surroundings.  \n  \nThis noble construction, erected under the orders of the sovereign Carlos III, in accordance with the plans developed by builder Joseph Díaz Gamones in 1770 and declared BIC, gave rise to the creation of the Fundación Centro Nacional del Vidrio in 1982, with a view to restore the historic building, its history and most traditional techniques. Covering more than 25,000 square metres, it currently houses the Museo Tecnológico del Vidrio, the Library and the Escuela del Vidrio, in addition to Furnaces and Workshops.  \n  \nThe route around the Museum begins in the Furnace Hall, a majestic space with a basilica-shaped layout with two large brick domes in which the melting furnaces were located. The **Tecnología del Vidrio (Glass Technology)** exhibition can be found in this space. The furnace can be accessed from the wood patio and demonstrates how the master glass blowers skillfully reproduce the old glass pieces at La Granja, using traditional glass blowing techniques with a blowpipe. On one side of the Main Cowtyard is the woodshed, where various craftspeople can be seen cutting and decorating pieces of glass, in addition to making the glass chandeliers so characteristic of La Granja.  \n  \nThe ground floor is home to the **Maumejean Workshop Stained Glass Room**. This is a prestigious workshop, with headquarters in both France and Spain, which between the late 19th Century and the first half of the 20th Century provided for a number of religious and civil buildings, in addition to private houses from Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia.  \n  \nThis is then followed by the **History of Glass** rooms. It brings together a selection of glass work from Antiquity to the present day.  \n  \nThe Polishing Nave houses the remains of the old hydraulic machine that polished flat glass, designed by Demetrio Crow.  \n  \nThe upper floor hosts the **La Granja Glass Room**, consisting of numerous National Heritage deposits, the Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas de Madrid and the Museo Nacional del Prado, in addition to other providers.  \n  \nIt then continues on to the **European Bottle and Container Room**, classified by country and with a chronology dating from the 16th to the 19th century.  \n  \nThe Polishing Nave leads to the **European Design Room** and the **Contemporary Glass Room**, with pieces created by designers and sculptors from Europe, Asia and The Americas.","city":"Real Sitio de San Ildefonso","address":"Pº Pocillo, 1 (40100)  \nReal Sitio de San Ildefonso (Segovia)","website":"http://www.realfabricadecristales.es","phone":"921010700","fax":"921010701","email":"museo@realfabricadecristales.es"},"15c3f796-e9e4-5984-a07b-97ea019d9da5":{"name":"Istanbul Archaeological Museums","description":"The name Istanbul Archaeological Museums denotes three museums under the same administration: the Archaeological Museum, the Ancient Orient Museum and the Tiled Kiosk Museum. The museum, affiliated to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, is located in Sultanahmet, on the Osman Hamdi Bey slope connecting Gülhane Park with the Topkapı Palace.  \n  \nIstanbul Archaeological Museums, displaying artifacts from civilisations of different historical periods, is one of the ten most important world-class museums designed and used as a museum building. It is also the first institution in Turkey arranged as a museum. Besides its spectacular collections, the architectural aspects of the buildings and beautiful gardens in which they are situated are of historical and natural importance.","city":"Istanbul","address":"Alemdar Caddesi,  \nOsman Hamdi Bey Yokuşu Sokak,  \n34122 Gülhane/Fatih, Istanbul  \nTurkey","website":"https://muze.gen.tr/muze-detay/arkeoloji","phone":"+90 212 520 77 40-41","fax":"+90 212 527 43 00","email":"info@istanbularkeoloji.gov.tr"},"18e20431-88ff-5070-a722-ea79a4e19880":{"name":"The David Collection","description":"The David Collection was founded by C. L. David (1878-1960), a prominent Danish attorney, who had begun to collect fine and decorative art in the 1910s. In this last field, he was aided by directors of the Danish Museum of Art and Design, who gradually also guided him to another area that had previously attracted little interest in Denmark: Islamic art. The Islamic part of David’s collection was, however, still rather modest at the time of his death in 1960.  \n  \nA bachelor and childless, C. L. David left his Copenhagen townhouse and works of art to a private foundation, along with financial means that made it possible to expand his collections. From the 1970s, a decision was consequently made to place increasing emphasis on expanding the Islamic holdings. The Islamic Collection has grown to become not only the museum’s most important, with over 4,000 objects, but also Scandinavia’s most significant in its field.  \n  \nThe Islamic Collection has been built up in keeping with the classical pattern for Western collections of this kind. It embodies works of art from Spain in the west to India in the east, but not works from Sub-Saharan Africa or Southeast Asia. Chronologically, the collection ranges from works dating to shortly after the advent of Islam to the middle of the 19th century. The collection encompasses all types of materials, but since the small rooms of 19th-century buildings like C. L. David’s townhouse, now the museum’s home, make it impossible to exhibit large objects, the museum consequently has only a modest collection of carpets, and they are either of small size or fragments of larger carpets.  \n  \nFollowing the museum’s refurbishment and reinstallation of its collections in 2009, the David Collection is now divided into three parts: European 18th-Century Art, Danish Early Modern Art, and Islamic Art. The collection of Islamic Art is presented in a new, contemporary setting, enhanced by digital and other modern techniques used to elucidate the objects on display. The backbone of the collection is 20 chronological/geographical sections, but the display also contains special galleries for light-sensitive materials as well as others dedicated to themes such as cultural history and artistic techniques.","city":"Copenhagen","address":"Kronprinsessegade, 30  \nCopenhagen  \nDenmark  \n  \nPostal address: Kronprinsessegade 30-32","website":"http://www.davidmus.dk/en","phone":"+45 33734949","fax":"+45 33734948","email":"museum@davidmus.dk"},"1b9d91b0-8fed-543e-bf14-fad63a660405":{"name":"Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts","description":"The Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts (JNGFA) is a leading contemporary art museum in Amman, established in 1980 by the Royal Society of Fine Arts. Its mission is to promote cultural diversity and highlight art from the Arab and developing worlds. Located in the historic Jabal al-Weibdeh district, the gallery spans two buildings connected by a beautiful sculpture park and serene Japanese garden.  \n  \nThe JNGFA houses an impressive permanent collection of over 3000 works, including paintings, sculptures, ceramics, graphic art, video art and installations. The collection features pieces by more than 800 artists from over 60 countries across Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and Australia. This vast and diverse compilation makes the gallery a significant global reference for contemporary art.  \n  \nIn addition to its permanent collection, the gallery regularly hosts a wide array of rotating exhibitions, artist residencies and community workshops. An on-site café offers visitors a spectacular view of the city and garden, while a gift shop sells unique artworks and handcrafted goods. In 2009, the JNGFA launched its innovative Mobile Museum, a van converted into a traveling gallery that brings art and workshops to rural villages across Jordan. This outreach program demonstrates the gallery’s commitment to expanding access to art beyond the capital and fostering cultural appreciation nationwide.","city":"Amman","address":"Jabal Al Weibdeh  \nHusni Fareez Street - Building no. 6  \nAmman 11191 Jordan","website":"https://nationalgallery.org","phone":"+962 6 4630128","email":"info@nationalgallery.org"},"1db535b6-0ad9-580c-b2d0-66605f9e9d44":{"name":"Further Associated Museums","description":"**Lisbon**  \nAncient Patriarch’s Palace, now Casa do Gaiato  \nArmy Museum  \nCalouste Gulbenkian Museum  \nChurch of St. Domingos de Benfica  \nLisbon’s Holy House of Mercy/Museum of São Roque  \nMacau Scientific and Cultural Centre Museum  \nMaritime Museum  \nNational Coach Museum  \nNational Library of Portugal  \nNational Museum of Ancient Art  \nPharmacy Museum  \n  \n**Alpiarça**  \nPatudos House, Alpiarça Museum  \n  \n**Alcobaça**  \nAlcobaça Monastery  \n  \n**Arouca**  \nSacred Art Museum of Arouca  \n  \n**Beja**  \nQueen Leonor Museum, Districtal Museum of Beja  \n  \n**Braga**  \nBraga Cathedral  \n  \n**Coimbra**  \nMachado de Castro National Museum  \nMuseum of Physics, University of Coimbra  \n  \n**Ílhavo**  \nVista Alegre Historic Museum  \n  \n**Oeiras**  \nOeiras Town Hall  \n  \n**Óbidos**  \nMunicipal Museum of Óbidos  \n  \n**Porto**  \nSoares dos Reis National Museum  \n  \n**Sardoal**  \nSardoal’s Holy House of Mercy  \n  \n**Viana do Castelo**  \nMuseum of Art and Archeology of Viana do Castelo  \n  \n**Vila Verde dos Francos**  \nOur Lady of the Visitation Convent  \n  \n**Vila Viçosa**  \nMuseum and Library of the House of Braganza  \n  \n**Viseu**  \nGrão Vasco Museum"},"29d8d41a-b480-56bf-8b3d-e906281be54d":{"name":"Dar Si Said","description":"Dar Si Said is a large palatial residence built in the second half of the 19th century by Si Said Ben Moussa, who served as minister of war under the regency of his brother Ba Hmad.  \n  \nA living testimony to Moroccan art and domestic architecture of the 19th century, the monument presents architecture of grandeur and opulence.  \n  \nMost of the collections in this regional museum come from Marrakech and the southern regions of Morocco, particularly Tensift, Sous, High Atlas, Anti-Atlas, Bani and Tafilalet. These are related sets of woodwork, jewellery, vessels and ceramics, weapons, carpets and weavings, and some archaeological pieces, including a marble vat from the early 11th century.  \n  \nSince August 2002, the Dar Si Saïd Museum has been hosted an exceptional thematic exhibition focusing solely on wood: Wood – Art and Uses. Chosen from museums throughout the kingdom, the Dar Si Said Museum displays the best examples of wood art from the 12th century to today. In addition to their historical value (Almohad, Wattassid and Saadi pieces), the collections inform us about artisanal techniques (sculptures, engravings, carpentry, filming and painting) and decoration such as *tasstir* (geometric woodwork), and *mouqarnas* (ornamental vaults).  \n  \nThe exhibition is divided into four main areas:  \n– Liturgical furniture (first section on the ground floor) includes a *minbar*, rosaries and Qur’anic tablets.  \n– Architectural wood (second section on the ground floor) is represented by traditional pieces and elements of rural architecture: lintels, corbels, pedestals and doors.  \n– Domestic furnishings (upstairs) includes a wide range of furniture, chests, bridal goods, mirrors and cooking tools.  \n– Diverse objects (also upstairs) related to the various uses of wood in different fields. These are exhibited in the four rooms of the grand riad (traditional musical instruments and tools, antique weapons and objects for personal grooming).","city":"Marrakech","address":"Derb El Bahia, Riad  \nEl-Zaïtoun El-Jadid  \nMarrakech, Morocco","phone":"+212 524 389 564"},"2b1c0dc0-0010-5164-be2c-49145ffe45bb":{"name":"Museum of Macedonia","description":"The National Museum of Macedonia is a complex museum institution comprising the museums of History, Ethnography and Art History. The museum collects, researches, maintains, exhibits and publishes on objects of movable heritage in these domains. It preserves evidence of the way of life and culture in these territories from the settling of Slavs in the 6th century AD till the end of World War II. The icon gallery exhibits a collection of medieval icons including several masterpieces of Byzantine art. The highlight of the permanent display is the icon of the Virgin of Pelagonia painted by Makarie in 1422. The ethnological exhibition takes pride in the magnificent collections of folk costumes, traditional jewellery, traditional architecture, intangible heritage and musical instruments, traditional weaving, crafts and traditional husbandry.  \n  \nThe museum also includes the Documentation Section, Conservation Lab and advanced Marketing Services. The Educational Section in the museum provides guided tours and carries out elaborate educational projects focusing on different target groups.  \n  \nExtensive publishing activities have been developed throughout the years. The Museum of Macedonia has issued numerous exhibition catalogues, periodicals, monographs, studies and other publications. These are available in the museum shop, which also organises production, sales and distribution of replicas of the most outstanding museum items. All the products in the shop can be purchased on the Internet and delivered to any address.","city":"Skopje","address":"Josif Mihajlovic, 7  \n1000 Skopje  \nRepublic of Macedonia (FYROM)","phone":"+389 2 3116 044","fax":"+389 2 3116 439","email":"musmk@t-home.mk"},"2d1fcee2-b5ee-57c9-9036-8389d4947106":{"name":"Budapest History Museum","description":"In 2007 the Budapest History Museum celebrated the 120th anniversary of its foundation and the 100th anniversary of its first exhibition. The state-sponsored Museum is located at 10 sites among which are three museums – the Royal Palace, the Kiscell Museum and the Aquincum Museum – there are also the Turkish Burial Chapel of Gül Baba, the Medieval Synagogue, Hercules Villa and the Roman Baths.  \n  \nThe archaeologists at the Budapest History Museum lead excavations within the the capital and its surroundings, collect objects, documents and other works of art, and carry out research into the history of Budapest from the Palaeolithic era to the present. The museum publishes periodicals and other papers on the history of the city, and its experts participate in international research projects.  \n  \nIncorporated into the former Royal Castle, the Medieval Palace of Buda, was the seat of the Hungarian kings. Here, Permanent exhibitions present a historical survey of Buda and Pest from the Palaeolithic era to the end of the Avar period, and the history of Buda and Pest from the 17th to the 20th century. Famous Gothic statues found in the late 1970s are on display as are relics from the Middle Ages.  \n  \nIn the Baroque Monastery and Church of Kiscell, a permanent exhibition elucidates the history of the capital from the 19th to the 20th century, together with a gallery showing a selection of artworks by 19th- and 20th- century artists.  \n  \nThe Aquincum archaeological site provides working evidence of recent excavations, while a permanent exhibition in the late 19th-century museum building displays objects excavated on this site dating from the Antique Roman period. A new exhibition hall is currently under construction in a former electricity station built in 1930; it will provide a new, extensive exhibition on the history of ancient times.  \n  \nTemporary exhibitions are held in rooms on the ground floor and in the first-floor exhibition hall.","city":"Budapest","address":"Budapest History Museum  \nBuda Castle Building \"E\"  \nSzent György tér 2  \nBudapest 1014  \nHungary","website":"http://www.btm.hu","phone":"+36 1 487 8800","fax":"+36 1 487 8872","email":"btm@mail.btm.hu"},"31de84d4-3de2-5ea1-b1d4-c8712cbcb314":{"name":"Museum of Arts and Crafts","description":"The Museum of Arts and Crafts was founded in 1880 by the Croatian Art Society.  \n  \nThe organisation of the Museum derived from the theoretical foundations of the Arts and Crafts movement. In keeping with the spirit of the times, the Arts and Crafts School was opened in 1882. The new headquarters building of the Museum and the School was completed in 1888, in the old Fair Square, today's Marshal Tito Square.  \n  \nThe basic collections of museum objects were created mostly from the donations of patriots. They were augmented through the purchase of several important collections from private collectors and also by programmed acquisitions, both within the country and from abroad.  \n  \nUp to World War One the Museum's scientific, professional and collection policy respected the conception laid down in the original motives underlying its establishment.  \n  \nBetween the two World Wars the concept of the Museum changed from being a collection of items to a cultural, historical and artistic institution.  \n  \nAfter World War Two the concept of modern museum communication became important, with many activities intended to involve the public.  \n  \nThe permanent display, opened in 1962, was of particular importance. Its backbone was the collection of furniture which, guided by the idea of a complex art museum that values equally all the fields of plastic arts design, was displayed in synthesis with other objects.  \n  \nThe present permanent display, created in 1995, has built on the positive experiences of earlier displays and has been broadened by new thematic units. With modern spatial differentiation and new multimedia contents the museum has become an experience which, by placing the visitor in an atmosphere of tangible historical heritage, essentially determines him or her as a cultural being.  \n  \nFor the Baroque period the Museum's holdings include many outstanding European artefacts, especially in the applied arts, including one of the largest collections of Baroque church art in Croatia.","city":"Zagreb","address":"Trg maršala Tita, 10  \n10000 Zagreb  \nCroatia","website":"http://www.muo.hr","phone":"+385 1 4882111","fax":"+385 1 4828088","email":"muo@muo.hr"},"325b7505-1527-5442-99ea-6a40f8c43d3f":{"name":"Islamic Museum at Al-Aqsa Mosque","description":"The museum was officially inaugurated in AH 1341 / AD 1922. In AH 1348 / AD 1929, it was transferred to its present site in the southwestern corner of the Haram al-Sharif. The museum is administered through the Department of Islamic Awqaf in Jerusalem, under the auspices of the Ministry of Jordanian Awqaf, Islamic Affairs and Holy Places.  \n  \nThe museum comprises three buildings with an exhibition space of over 1,000 square m. The oldest hall is from the AH 6th / AD 12th century and is a rare Crusader monument in the holy city. The second hall was an Ayyubid mosque (AH 7th / AD 13th century) historically known as al-Malikiya mosque or the Jami’a al-Mughariba. The third hall is known as the *al-Fakhriya* corner and its history goes back to the Mamluk period (AH 8th / AD 14th century).  \n  \nThe collection consists of artefacts and remains from the Islamic and non-Islamic epochs, representing various facets of Islamic civilisation ranging in geography, theme and period. Most of the artefacts represent the heritage of al-Haram al-Sharif, Jerusalem and Palestine at large including cities such as Hebron and Nablus.  \n  \nThe museum contains woodwork from different Islamic eras, the oldest dating to the Umayyad period. Metalwork in iron, copper and silver includes the iron enclosure from the Dome of the Rock, candlesticks, swords, daggers, daises, incense burners, coins, rings and memorial pieces. The collection includes marble and glazed tiles that panelled the the Dome of the Rock in the period of Sultan Sülayman the Magnificent (r. AH 926–74 / AD 1520–66) and his successors. There is a collection of earthenware, inscriptions on stone from different Islamic periods and its precursors, and columns and capitals from the Roman and Byzantine periods. There is a valuable collection of Qur’ans, the oldest from the AH 9th / AD 15 th century, and many Mamluk manuscripts whose themes deal with social and economic life in the holy city. The museum displays part of its textile collection, with costumes, grave coverings, pieces from the *kiswa* (covering) of the Ka’ba and pieces of carpet.","city":"Jerusalem","address":"Al-Haram al-Sharif  \nAmro  \nP.O. Box 75085  \nJerusalem","website":"http://www.facebook.com/islamic.museum1922/","phone":"02 6283286","fax":"02 6283286","email":"jerusalem.museum@gmail.com"},"33f89573-8b54-5c1a-86ba-1663e604740f":{"name":"Jordan Archaeological Museum","description":"The museum was founded in 1951 by the Department of Antiquities of Jordan on the Citadel of Amman on a hill called Jabal al-Qal’a. The building has a total measurement of 525 m2 on two floors. The ground floor is used for storage, and the first floor comprises the display area, which consists of three exhibition halls, and administrative offices.  \n  \nThe museum holds many artefacts found in various archaeological sites in Jordan representing the path of civilization in this area throughout its long history. The extensive collection is arranged chronologically by historical periods, from the Stone Ages to the Islamic periods.  \n  \nThe Islamic art collection is displayed in an exhibition hall in eleven showcases that consist of: pottery vessels from the Umayyad period to the Mamluk period; glazed vessels from the Mamluk period to the Ottoman period; steatite vessels from the Umayyad period; coins of all types and periods; metalwork and pottery vessels from the Umayyad to Mamluk periods; iron shields and swords from the Mamluk period; carved stones from the Umayyad period; four plaster replicas of architectural elements from Khirbat al-Mafjar Palace in Jericho (windows, lintel and a dome from the bath).  \n  \nLack of space prohibits the display of temporary exhibitions; however, the museum participates in many local and international exhibitions held in Jordan and abroad to show the history and archaeology of Jordan throughout the ages.  \n  \nThree curators sharing the responsibility of looking after the whole collection of the museum.","city":"Amman","address":"Citadel of Amman  \nP.O. Box 88  \nAmman, Jordan","phone":"+962 6 463 8795","fax":"+962 6 461 9768"},"36670bdc-150b-5f89-8906-79b8e4e2518d":{"name":"The David Collection","description":"The David Collection was founded by C. L. David (1878-1960), a prominent Danish attorney, who had begun to collect fine and decorative art in the 1910s. In this last field, he was aided by directors of the Danish Museum of Art and Design, who gradually also guided him to another area that had previously attracted little interest in Denmark: Islamic art. The Islamic part of David’s collection was, however, still rather modest at the time of his death in 1960.  \n  \nA bachelor and childless, C. L. David left his Copenhagen townhouse and works of art to a private foundation, along with financial means that made it possible to expand his collections. From the 1970s, a decision was consequently made to place increasing emphasis on expanding the Islamic holdings. The Islamic Collection has grown to become not only the museum’s most important, with over 4,000 objects, but also Scandinavia’s most significant in its field.  \n  \nThe Islamic Collection has been built up in keeping with the classical pattern for Western collections of this kind. It embodies works of art from Spain in the west to India in the east, but not works from Sub-Saharan Africa or Southeast Asia. Chronologically, the collection ranges from works dating to shortly after the advent of Islam to the middle of the 19th century. The collection encompasses all types of materials, but since the small rooms of 19th-century buildings like C. L. David’s townhouse, now the museum’s home, make it impossible to exhibit large objects, the museum consequently has only a modest collection of carpets, and they are either of small size or fragments of larger carpets.  \n  \nFollowing the museum’s refurbishment and reinstallation of its collections in 2009, the David Collection is now divided into three parts: European 18th-Century Art, Danish Early Modern Art, and Islamic Art. The collection of Islamic Art is presented in a new, contemporary setting, enhanced by digital and other modern techniques used to elucidate the objects on display. The backbone of the collection is 20 chronological/geographical sections, but the display also contains special galleries for light-sensitive materials as well as others dedicated to themes such as cultural history and artistic techniques.","city":"Copenhagen","address":"Kronprinsessegade, 30  \nCopenhagen  \nDenmark  \n  \nPostal address: Kronprinsessegade 30-32","website":"http://www.davidmus.dk/en","phone":"+45 33734949","fax":"+45 33734948","email":"museum@davidmus.dk"},"36dd7a00-ac4e-5317-9673-604bbb89af53":{"name":"Museum of Oriental Art (Fondazione Torino Musei)","description":"Turin’s new Museum of Oriental Art marks the culmination of various strands of interest in this field: the city boasts a long tradition of Oriental studies at the university – backed by the presence of a major centre for specialised research (CESMEO), while the past few years have seen a growing realisation of the need to create specific instruments to further our knowledge and understanding of distant cultural worlds. A museum that displays artistic creations from different cultures not only fulfils its own vocation as a repository for their conservation and exhibition, but above all prompts visitors to expand their own ethnocentric horizons.  \n  \nThese were some of the underlying grounds that led to the idea of creating a Museum of Oriental Art (MAO), in Turin based on the redefinition, renewal and expansion of the Oriental Section of the Civic Museum of Ancient Art.  \n  \nThe new museum, stands in one of the city’s most lively and fascinating areas, is housed in Palazzo Mazzonis, which was built between the 17th and the 18th century, known, which was formerly owned by the Marquis Solaro della Chiusa before being passed in 1870 to Chevalier Paolo Mazzonis, a textile magnate. After becoming the head office of the Manifattura Mazzonis, extensive improvements were carried out, especially on the first floor. The Mazzonis business failed in 1968 and the building remained unused. It was purchased by Turin City Council in 1980 and restored to house a section of the law court from 1982 to 2001 and finally, after appropriate restoration became site of a museum.  \n  \nThe Museum now contains some 1500 works from all over Asia. The rooms used for the permanent exhibition are divided into five separate “galleries”, which have fitted naturally into the structural layout of the building.  \n  \nThe MAO aspires to be as representative as possible in its choice of artworks from the various countries: its collections include the major cultural traditions from the continent, building on the important collections already owned by various institutions in Turin, whose directly inspired the proposed layout for the new museum which is divided into five clearly defined cultural areas: South Asia, China, Japan, Himalayan Countries and Islamic Countries.  \n  \nThe order in which the works are presented and the accompanying exhibit labels aim to highlight the points of contact and creative interactions between the different countries at the various historical periods, reintroducing a unified interpretation to the proposed route.  \n  \nThe MAO also acts as a cultural intermediary for visitors, who are generally unfamiliar with the concepts and cultural traditions to which exhibits refer. It aims to inspire visitors to explore new forms of thought, encouraging a fuller awareness of the value of all human knowledge.  \n  \nLastly, the MAO offers a wide range of public services: multimedia stations, online catalogue on the museum’s website, bookshop, possibility of using the art library and photographic archives of Fondazione Torino Musei, seminars, conferences, temporary exhibitions, and the educational rooms.","city":"Turin","address":"Via San Domenico11  \n10122 Turin","website":"http://www.maotorino.it","phone":"+39 01 14 43 69 27","fax":"+39 01 14 43 69 18","email":"mao@fondazionetorinomusei.it"},"3acfd33c-e4e0-5b37-a94a-380f38913853":{"name":"National Museum of Aleppo","description":"The earliest collection of art and archaeological artefacts for the National Museum of Aleppo dates back to 1928 and the museum was formally inaugurated in1931. Initially it was devoted to the pre-Greco-Roman era, with works no later than 333 BC, most of which were based on finds from Tell Halaf. It was decided to move the collection from its original location in an Ottoman period building, which had become overcrowded, into a modern purpose-built museum, begun in 1967 and formally opened in 1972. It includes the following wings:  \n  \nPre-historic art: dedicated to finds such as bones and pottery from the regions of Syria and the Euphrates Valley. Some items are about a million years old and the most recent piece dates to no later than 3,200 BC, after which writing was developed and art became historic.  \n  \nAncient Near Eastern art from Syria: one of the most important sections containing pieces from Tell Halaf, Mari, Ugarit, Ebla and other significant sites of early Near Eastern civilisations, all displayed in chronological order in three large wings.  \n  \nClassical art from the Greek, Roman and Byzantine periods: pottery, coins, a number of limestone funerary carvings from the ancient city of Mambij, and a collection of Roman and Byzantine glass flasks used for perfume, eye-kohl and drugs are some of this section's main features, all displayed chronologically.  \n  \nArab Islamic art: The method of display here is based on the item's function and medium, such as pottery, ceramics, metalwork and glass of the various Islamic dynasties as well as a collection of gold and silver coins of the Umayyad, Abbasid, Ayyubid and Mamluk periods. A stone cenotaph carved in floriated kufic calligraphy is a masterpiece of this hall. Medieval military equipment and an Ottoman wooden ceiling featured in a side chamber are also presented.  \n  \nModern art: paintings by Syrian artists, particularly Aleppines, expressed in various styles such as realism, cubism, expressionism.","city":"Aleppo","address":"Al-Ma'arri Street  \nAleppo, Syria","phone":"+963 21 2122400","fax":"+963 21 2122402"},"3b3a5b19-fbaa-51e8-9923-ce90d4287338":{"name":"National Museum of Bardo","description":"Founded on 7 May 1888, and considered one of the most important archaeological museums in the Maghreb, the Bardo National Museum is famous for its Roman mosaic panels. The museum resulted from the renovation of the palace of a *bey* (provincial governor) of the 19th century. It consists of a ground floor and two upper floors in which museum objects have been grouped in a chronological order that retraces the history of Tunisia.  \n  \nThe collection includes areas dedicated to:  \n  \n– Prehistory: the development of stone tools, ornaments, engraved stones, and especially to the rock and animal bone sanctuary known as “Hermaion of El-Guettar” that dates back to BC 40,000.  \n  \n– The Punic era, including ceramics, neo-Punic steles and jewellery, and pieces exhumed from several ancient sites in Tunisia.  \n  \n– The Roman era. In addition to ceramics and jewellery, this section is known for its significant collection of mosaics.  \n  \n– The Byzantine era. It contains sarcophagi, mosaics and terracottas whose designs display characteristics of African Christianity, and the large mosaic-covered Kelibia Baptistery.  \n  \n– Mediterranean treasures recovered from a shipwreck found off the coast of Mahdia that also contained bronze artefacts and Athenian marbles.  \n  \n– The Muslim period. One section, devoted to the Middle Ages, includes objects from the Sabra and Raqqada excavations: Fatimid glass, ivory and bronze figurines, ceramics with figurative designs, funeral steles, kufic inscriptions, parchment sheets from the Qur’an and Egyptian textiles. In the second section, popular arts and traditions are represented by weapons, musical instruments, copper objects, jewellery and ceremonial clothing from different regions of Tunisia.  \n  \nObjects are grouped by type and material within each section. The mosaics are presented in wall panels or form part of the palace floor. Smaller objects are displayed in glass cases. Statues are exhibited on their stands or in wall niches. These collections, which comprise the museum’s permanent exhibition, are made accessible to the general public through educational and cultural activities that take place in the museum.  \n  \n*On 18 March 2015, the museum was the site of an attack by an Islamist terrorist group that killed 22 people, most of them tourists.*","city":"Tunis","address":"Musée national du Bardo  \n2000 Le Bardo, Tunisia","website":"http://www.bardomuseum.tn/","phone":"+216 71 513650 – 71 513842","fax":"+216 71 514050"},"3b73a306-1129-5c8d-acba-8e34a39e132f":{"name":"The British Museum","description":"The British Museum was established by Act of Parliament in 1753, the first national public museum in the world. From the beginning it granted free admission to all “studious and curious persons”. The founding collection was that of Sir Hans Sloane, a wealthy physician and collector. The original British Museum comprised three departments: Printed Books; Manuscripts (including coins); and Natural and Artificial Productions, which included everything from sculpture to mineral samples and zoological specimens. In January 1759 the British Museum opened its doors to the public.  \n  \nAs a product of the Enlightenment, the museum's job was to be a storehouse of knowledge for the use and benefit of the public, advancing all fields of scholarship. The museum therefore aimed to collect all kinds of material; it remains one of the few places in the world in which it is possible to see the world under one roof. During the 19th century the museum acquired representative collections of Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Assyrian antiquities, as well as material from across the Islamic world.  \n  \nThe museum itself had to grow to offer space to display the growing collections. Between 1823 and 1847 the original building was replaced by four large wings built around a central courtyard. In 1854 construction began on the iconic Round Reading Room in the central courtyard. The natural history collections were given their own home in the new Museum of Natural History in 1881. By 1973 the British Library and British Museum were administratively separated, and in 1999 the new British Library building opened at St Pancras. The British Museum site was expanded and modernised. In 2000 the Great Court opened, envisioned as a sunny piazza at the centre of the building, with up-to-date facilities such as lecture theatres, an education centre and facilities for school children, as well as restaurants and shops. In 2014 the World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre opened to the public, offering state-of-the-art facilities to care for, manage, research and display the collections.","city":"London","address":"Great Russell St., London WC1B 3DG  \nUnited Kingdom","website":"http://www.britishmuseum.org","phone":"+44 20 7323 8000 / 8299","fax":"+44 20 7323 8616","email":"information@britishmuseum.org"},"3eb798ec-9543-5a63-ba38-c22270fbbe84":{"name":"University Museum of Islamic Art | The Bumiller Collection","description":"An exceptional collection of early Islamic bronzes is housed in a historical town-house in the heart of the old city of Bamberg. The objects mostly originate from the Persianate world what is today Iran, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. The collection is completed by a significant number of ceramics, glass and ivory objects as well as numismatics and manuscripts. The many-sided compilation includes nearly all objects of daily life. Writing equipment, cosmetic utensils, jugs, bowls, trays, fumigating vessels, oil lamps, jewellery, mirrors and the like give a fascinating insight into the life along the Silk Road in the Middle Ages. The exhibition shows the development of forms as well as the high standard of metallurgy mastered by medieval craftsmen in the region. The most ambitious décor and production techniques such as repoussé, punching, engraving and damascening that Islamic art put forth during the centuries are represented among the objects of the collection.  \n  \nIt is the Bumiller Art Foundation's concern to present most diverse products of Islamic metallurgy and to make them available for research and learning. The museum continuously serves as a venue for researchers, students and all those interested in Islamic art.","city":"Bamberg","address":"Austraße 29  \n96047 Bamberg  \nGermany","website":"http://www.the-bumiller-collection.com","phone":"+49 951 25954","email":"info@the-bumiller-collection.com"},"42fb6391-e1f6-527a-85db-f9638b02d667":{"name":"Higher Institute for the Study of Contemporary History of Tunisia, University of Manouba","description":"The Higher Institute for the Study of Contemporary History of Tunisia (ISHCT) is a research centre for contemporary history in Tunisia. It houses a microfilm archive, audio-visual witness records, a collection of photographs and a library available on request to researchers, journalists, activists and students wishing to conduct in-depth research into the history of the colonisation and decolonisation of Tunisia. There are four research and study units (UER) bringing together historical researchers dedicated to using the different resources to improve understanding of this period of Tunisian history: UER Archives, UER Repositories of Memory and Museums, UER Oral History and UER History. Through the publication of a review (RAWAFID), conference papers, seminars and scientific meetings, memories from witnesses and document collections, ISHCT hopes to enhance the university library in line with advances in documentation and  methodology, thereby helping to stimulate research into this historical period by setting up scientific exchanges in Tunisia and abroad.","city":"Tunis","address":"Campus Universitaire de la Manouba,  \n2010 La Manouba  \nTunis  \nTunisia","phone":"+216 716 009 50","fax":"+216 716 002 77","email":"ishmn@ishmn.rnu.tn"},"4456ae4f-8839-5955-824e-44355a235903":{"name":"Further Associated Museums","description":"**Bologna**  \n  \nArt Collection of the Cassa di Risparmio, Bologna  \n[http://www.fondazionecarisbo.it/](http://www.fondazionecarisbo.it/)  \n  \nCivic Museum of the Risorgimento, Certosa of Bologna  \n[http://www.comune.bologna.it/museorisorgimento/](http://www.comune.bologna.it/museorisorgimento/)  \n[http://www.storiaememoriadibologna.it/certosa](http://www.storiaememoriadibologna.it/certosa)  \n  \nEcclesiastical Cultural Heritage Office of the Diocese of Bologna  \n  \nInternational Museum and Music Library  \n[http://www.museomusicabologna.it/](http://www.museomusicabologna.it/)  \n  \nMuseums at Palazzo Poggi, University of Bologna  \n[http://www.museopalazzopoggi.unibo.it/](http://www.museopalazzopoggi.unibo.it/)","city":"Bologna"},"48a95fcc-1e73-5c2a-b2b7-c1e8072a42e8":{"name":"MATHAF","description":"Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art serves as the Arab world’s leading museum of modern and contemporary art. The museum offers a welcoming, vibrant environment that invites evolving discussions about modern art in the region and beyond. Home to a permanent collection that offers a distinctively unique comprehensive overview of modern and contemporary art from North Africa and the Middle East, Mathaf (“museum” in Arabic) also performs an important role as a centre for dialogue and scholarship and a resource for fostering creativity. Mathaf was opened by Qatar Museums (QM) in partnership with Qatar Foundation (QF) in 2010 and is located in Doha’s Education City.  \n  \nOver the past 10 years, Mathaf has made major contributions to research and debate around modern and contemporary art. The Museum evolved into a meeting point for art practitioners and scholars from across the region around education programmes, conferences and publications. In looking ahead to the next decade, Mathaf will continue to serve as a dynamic platform for artists, facilitating the creation and exploration of contemporary works that presents and examines their society and culture while further expanding its global reach through the large-scale digitisation of the museum, providing experience and knowledge of the Mathaf collection through the texts of the Mathaf Encyclopedia specialised in art history, criticism and thought.","city":"Doha","address":"Education City, Qatar Foundation, P.O. Box 2777, Doha, Qatar","website":"http:// mathaf.org.qa/en/","phone":"+974 4402 8830","email":"mathaf@qm.org.qa"},"52bf77ae-f600-5ec2-b96d-71a387b2a8ca":{"name":"National Museum of Romanticism","description":"The Romantic Museum was created by the 2nd Marquis de la Vega Inclán (1858–1942) and donated to the state in 1921.  \n  \nThe building was built in 1776 by architect Manuel Rodriguez. The museum opened in 1924 with its founder’s artworks augmented by donations, such as paintings by Alenza donated by the Marquis de Cerralbo, and items belonging to several great writers.  \n  \nThe museum became a meeting place for intellectuals. During the Civil War, its importance was highlighted by the appointment of the iconic literary figure Rafael Alberti as director. Over the years, the collection has been enriched by purchases, donations and deposits.  \n  \nThe Romantic Museum closed in 2001 for complete renovation, reopening in 2009, with a new name, the Museum of Romanticism, more in line with its contents.","city":"Madrid","address":"Calle San Mateo, 13  \n28004 Madrid  \nSpain","website":"http://museoromanticismo.mcu.es","phone":"+34 914 481 045; 914 480 163","fax":"+34 914 456 940","email":"informacion.romanticismo@mecd.es"},"559ab197-7289-5af4-a295-1118bde9afce":{"name":"Museum of Islamic Art at the Pergamon Museum, State Museums","description":"**The Museum of Islamic Art is closed from October 2023 to March 2027 due to renovation and expansion works.**  \n  \nThe Museum of Islamic Art at the Pergamon Museum Berlin is the only institution of its kind in Germany, the oldest in the West and with its c. 93,000 pieces it houses one of the world’s finest collections of Islamic art from nearly all regions of Islamic rule.  \n  \nIts collections are especially rich in objects from an architectural context including the monumental façade of the caliphal palace of Mshatta (Jordan), dating from the mid-8th century. It is the largest artefact of Islamic Art in any museum worldwide. The unique dome from the Alhambra Palace in Granada (Spain) and 13th-century prayer niches from Kashan (Iran) and Konya (Turkey) are among the highlights. Most loved by our visitors is the finely painted wooden panelling of an upper-class house from Aleppo (Syria) from the early 17th century – it is the oldest surviving exemplar from the Ottoman World. Among the several archaeological groups from major excavations in the Islamic world the finds from the 9th-century caliphal capital of Samarra (Iraq) stand out. The collection also has a large number of important Ottoman and Persian carpets and bibliographical works of art, including numerous miniatures from the Mughal Empire.  \n  \nThe collection is displayed chronologically, allowing the visitor to follow the different stylistic phases of Islamic art and to develop a notion of the complex Islamic history and its artistic merits. Because of the large number of visitors (up to 900,000 yearly), only a small number of the most important works of art are on display. The museum will move inside Pergamon-Museum and will triple its exhibition space (3,000sq.m) by 2020. The layout and concept will discover new and innovative ways to present the cultural legacy.  \n  \nWith its rich art and archaeological collection, the Museum of Islamic Art is one of the leading research institutions dedicated to the material culture of the Middle East and neighbouring regions. Our many research, conservation and exhibition projects amount to a probing investigation of the urban legacies of the Near and Middle East. The institution houses important collections of archival photographs on Islamic art and architecture as well as an internationally outstanding library focused on art, architecture and archaeology in the world of Islam.","city":"Berlin","address":"Geschwister-Scholl-Straße, 6  \n10117 Berlin  \nGermany","website":"http://www.smb.museum/museen-und-einrichtungen/museum-fuer-islamische-kunst/home.html","phone":"+49 30 266 42 5201","fax":"+49 30 266 42 5202","email":"isl@smb.spk-berlin.de"},"6a05cd70-3f9b-5480-8f66-c26e05087784":{"name":"Museums' System of the Province of Bologna","description":"A museums’ network created by Provincia di Bologna, offering a virtual tour through over 100 museums within Bologna and the surrounding area from the Po Valley, and the verdant hills up to the Apennine Mountains. Many different collections have been gathered into one virtual museum, inviting visitors to discover a rich heritage along five thematic paths (Archaeology, Arts, History, Sciences and Identity), and four geographic routes (Bologna, Imola and its surrounds, the Plains, and the Apennine Mountains).  \n  \nOn the agenda, a rich menu to suit all tastes: an intriguing starter is offered by the Etruscan and Roman heritage, set against the vestiges of our prehistoric ancestors. The arts follow, including those of the Middle Ages, illuminated manuscripts; the genius of Vitale da Bologna and the world-renowned Bolognese painters, the Carracci to Giorgio Morandi; the tradition of excellence in music honoured by Mozart, Farinelli and Rossini. Then there is a focus on History with Bologna’s most ancient University and its undisputed supremacy in scientific investigation, encompassing Ulisse Aldrovandi’s herbarium as well as Galvani’s and Marconi’s experiments. Take in the captivating stories of Risorgimento (“Resurgence”) after almost four centuries of magnificent papal authority; the grand events of World War Two, for example the Autumn Campaign of 1944; the subsequent suffering of the people, the struggles and resistance. Last but not least, from those museums dedicated to rural and industrial archaeology, the identity and character of people as rooted in agriculture and handicrafts and the technological innovations of more recent times.","city":"Bologna","address":"Via de’ Castagnoli, 3  \n40126 Bologna  \nItaly","website":"http://www.cittametropolitana.bo.it/cultura/Engine/RAServePG.php/P/267811390414/T/Guida-Musei","phone":"+39 051 6598470","fax":"+39 051 6598884","email":"sistemamusei@provincia.bologna.it"},"6da08597-8da7-5d02-a911-09a5273c1265":{"name":"Further Associated Museums","description":"**Museum of National Antiquities (Historiska Museet)**  \nBox 5428  \nNarvavägen 13–17  \n114 84 Stockholm  \nTel.: +46 8 51955600  \n[www.historiska.se](http://www.historiska.se)  \n  \n**Museum of Ethnography (Etnografiska museet)**  \nDjurgårdsbrunnsvägen 34,  \nBox 27140,  \n102 52 Stockholm  \nTel.: +46 010 4561299  \n[www.varldskulturmuseerna.se/etnografiskamuseet/](http://www.varldskulturmuseerna.se/etnografiskamuseet/)  \n  \n**National Museum of Fine Arts (Nationalmuseum)**  \nBox 16176  \n103 24 Stockholm  \nAddress for visitors: Södra Blasieholmshamnen  \nTel.: +46 8 51954300  \n[www.nationalmuseum.se](http://www.nationalmuseum.se)  \n  \n**Royal Coin Cabinet (Kungl. Myntkabinettet)**  \nSlottsbacken 6,  \nBox 5428  \n114 84 Stockholm  \nTel.: +46 8 51955300  \n[www.myntkabinettet.se](http://www.myntkabinettet.se)  \n  \n**Royal Armoury (Livrustkammaren)**  \nSlottsbacken 3,  \n111 30 Stockholm  \nTel: +46 8 4023000  \n[www.lrk.lsh.se](http://www.lrk.lsh.se)  \n  \n**National Maritime Museum (Sjöhistoriska museet)**  \nBox 27131  \n102 52 Stockholm  \nAddress for visitors: Djurgårdsbrunnsvägen 24  \nTel.: +46 8 51954900  \n[www.sjohistoriska.se](http://www.sjohistoriska.se)  \n  \n**Army Museum (Armémuseum)**  \nBox 14095,  \n104 41 Stockholm  \nAddress for visitors: Riddargatan 13  \nTel.: +46 8 51956310  \n[www.sfhm.se](http://www.sfhm.se)  \n  \n**Swedish National Archives (Riksarkivet)**  \nFyrverkarbacken 13,  \nBox 12541,  \n102 29 Stockholm  \nTel: +46 010 4767000  \n[www.riksarkivet.se](http://www.riksarkivet.se)  \n  \n**Hallwyl Museum (Hallwylska Museet)**  \nHamngatan 4,  \n111 47 Stockholm  \nTel.: +46 8 4023099  \n[http://www.hallwylskamuseet.se](http://www.hallwylskamuseet.se)  \n  \n**Museum of Cultural History**  \nBox 1095  \n221 04 Lund  \nAddress for visitors:  \nTegnérsplatsen  \n223 50 Lund  \nTel.: +46 046 350400  \n[www.kulturen.com](http://www.kulturen.com)  \n  \n**Uppsala University Library**  \nBox 510,  \n751 20 Uppsala  \nAddress for visitors: Carolina Rediviva, Dag Hammarskjölds väg 1  \nTel.: +46 18 4713900  \n[www.ub.uu.se](http://www.ub.uu.se)"},"6dad7774-d6a4-55b6-8d2c-c7751bdd6b44":{"name":"Civic Museums of Ancient Art","description":"Three museums make up the Civic Museums of Ancient Art (Musei Civici d’Arte Antica) in Bologna. The Collezioni Comunali d’Arte (Municipal Art Collections) were instituted in 1936 in the Ancien Régime apartments of the papal legate in the City Hall. Housed here are works from the 13th to the 20th century. The collection – paintings, sculptures, furniture, furnishings and decorative objects – is the sum of 19th- and 20th-century bequests along with works that originally belonged to former ruling bodies of the city, including mythological and allegorical paintings (1713–1723) by Donato Creti. Works of the Emilian school (medieval painted and carved crosses; paintings by Vitale da Bologna, Jacopo di Paolo, Francia, Aspertini, Passerotti, the Carracci, Tiarini, Cagnacci, Crespi, Gandolfi and Palagi) are hung next to others by masters from all over Italy and abroad (Bonfigli, Moretti, Pirez, Signorelli, Bertoja, Gentileschi, Nuvolone, Hayez and Brullov). The rooms communicate the atmosphere of different artistic periods in Bolognese art.  \n  \nSince 1985, the Medieval Museum has been housed in the Renaissance Palazzo Ghisilardi. The items here come from several historical collections: the Baroque Wunderkammer of the Marquis Cospi; Luigi Ferdinando Marsili’s collection, one of the most important in Enlightenment Europe; collections of 19th-century artists (Baruzzi and Palagi). The Medieval sculpture department is at the heart the Museum’s identity. Among the masterpieces exhibited are examples of high Medieval craftsmanship, a cope embroidered in opus anglicanum with stories of the Life of Christ, a statue of Pope Boniface VIII in gilded copper, Gothic French ivories, important Renaissance and post-Renaissance items (weapons, armoury and glass) and Bolognese illuminated manuscripts. Renaissance and Baroque bronze sculptures include Giambologna’s model for the Neptune fountain, Algardi’s Saint Michael Archangel and Bernini’s bust of Pope Gregory XV Ludovisi.  \n  \nThe Davia Bargellini Museum was inaugurated in 1924 in the building of the same name. It includes a picture gallery (Vitale da Bologna, Michele di Matteo, Jacopo di Paolo, Prospero and Lavinia Fontana, Passerotti, Franceschini, Giuseppe Maria and Luigi Crespi) and a rich selection of objects of applied art recreating an authentic 18th-century Bolognese setting. Some items are particularly rare, such as the marionette theatre and a miniature of an 18th-century private house. Bolognese Baroque sculpture is represented by a wide display of works, mainly terracotta, dating from the 16th to the 20th centuries.","city":"Bologna","address":"Via Manzoni, 4  \n40121 Bologna  \nItaly","website":"http://www.museibologna.it/arteantica","phone":"+39 051 2193916","fax":"+39 051 232312","email":"museiarteantica@comune.bologna.it"},"7712e497-33e4-5529-91c3-47abff00f87c":{"name":"National Archaeological Museum","description":"The National Archaeological Museum (Museo Arqueológico Nacional or MAN) is Spain’s most important museum of history. It preserves, researches and presents its collections of archaeology, art and history to the public. In doing so, the museum aspires to offer all visitors an accurate, attractive, interesting and critical interpretation of the meaning of objects from the past, in the hopes that a deeper knowledge of history will help them to better analyse and understand the reality of today. Given the relevance and scope of its collections, the National Archaeological Museum is comparable in its specialty to prominent Spanish museums (Prado, Thyssen, Reina Sofía or the Royal Collections Gallery), by showing our country’s diversity and affluence in terms of cultural history.  \n  \nThe museum occupies a monumental building in the heart of the Salamanca quarter, one of Madrid’s busiest shopping and leisure districts, and is strategically positioned along the Recoletos-Prado artery, which boasts the highest concentration of art and culture institutions in the city. The museum’s magnificent building in the heart of Madrid offers a historical infrastructure — complete with building, garden and fence —which is fully renovated and accessible.  \n  \nThe MAN has grown and evolved constantly since it was created in 1867, almost 160 years ago, and is still changing today to meet the needs of the 21st century. After a complete overhaul between 2008 and 2014, the institution reopened in April 2014 with a brand-new look and layout, claiming its place among Europe’s most modern museums. The renovated building is divided into six floors and has a total surface area of nearly 30,000 m2, of which 18,304 m2 are reserved for public use (the permanent exhibition alone occupies 9,239 m2). The museum has also been fitted out with different service areas, including a spacious vestibule, café, shop and activity rooms.  \n  \nThe MAN’s extraordinary collection, which includes a large number of priceless historical and cultural artefacts, comprises over one million archaeological, historical and artistic objects.  \n  \nIts holdings are vast and varied: Palaeolithic bifaces, practically the only tool in existence for millennia; delicate ivory carvings that combine aesthetic appeal with practical functionality; prehistoric engravings found in the Cave of El Castillo, evidence of humanity’s earliest artistic and symbolic expressions; the abstract aesthetics of the “Idol of Extremadura”; the classical, timeless beauty of the Lady of Elche; ancient Roman sculptures; the extraordinary treasure of Guarrazar; the Romanesque crucifix of Ferdinand and Sancha; the lovely equestrian figure of Hector by Il Filarete; and the ornamental paintings of Luis Paret on a Baroque armchair are just some of the treasures it houses.  \n  \nThe Museum's Islamic Art collection largely comes from the different historical periods of Al-Andalus, the name that the Muslims gave to the territory they conquered in the Iberian Peninsula. The aesthetic quality achieved by Andalusian art is demonstrated in the capitals, arches, marble panels and alabaster and plaster decorations of the period, especially from the Caliphate of Córdoba. Added to this is the museum's collection of decorative and highly refined objects made in the Andalusian palace workshops, such as metal, ivory and glazed ceramics. Likewise, a large collection of objects is preserved that show the symbiosis of Hispano-Islamic and Christian forms in the Iberian Peninsula, as the dome of the Torrijos Palace.","city":"Madrid","address":"Serrano, 13  \n28001  \nMadrid, Spain","website":"http://www.man.es/","phone":"+34 91 577 79 12","fax":"+34 91 432 68 40","email":"secretaria.man@mecd.es"},"89f613d2-8723-5be8-8e46-487f9dae46f4":{"name":"Swiss National Museum","description":"Three museums – the National Museum Zurich, the Château de Prangins and the Forum of Swiss History Schwyz – as well as the collections centre in Affoltern am Albis – are united under the umbrella of the Swiss National Museum (SNM). The permanent exhibitions at the museums present Swiss history from its beginnings to the present, and give an insight into Swiss identities and the rich tapestry of our country’s history and culture. Temporary exhibitions on current topics add to the experience.","city":"Zurich","address":"Swiss National Museum  \nMuseumstrasse, 2  \nP.O. Box 8021  \nZurich  \nSwitzerland","website":"http://www.nationalmuseum.ch","phone":"+41 44 218 65 11","fax":"+41 44 211 29 49","email":"info@nationalmuseum.ch"},"8a41ae85-1217-5a1f-a8f2-68da1d74234d":{"name":"National Museum of Antiquities and Islamic Art","description":"The National Museum of Antiquities and Islamic Art is the oldest museum in Algeria and Africa. The collection was set up in 1835, five years after the French occupation, by the then Governor General Marshal Clauzel who appointed Adrien Berbrugger as its first curator. From 1838 onward, the early museum hosted pieces, of Algerian provenance, from Antiquity up until the Ottoman periods. Between 1838 and 1896, this early museum occupied different places of the lower Casbah, before settling in a beautiful park located on the heights of Mustapha Pasha - now known as the Park of Liberty - where it was officially inaugurated in 1897.  \n  \nSince then these two divisions of the museum’s collection, Antiquity and Islamic, have continued to grow. This collection makes it possible to exhibit the history of Algeria from its Libyan-Punic era through to the 20th century. The objects are displayed in two separate buildings: one houses the pre-Islamic collection whilst the other houses the collection of Islamic art, which was inaugurated in May 2003.  \n  \nThe ancient collection is very rich and includes collections of mosaics, sculptures, Libyan and Latin inscriptions, coins and medals, bronze, ivory, bone, ceramics and wooden objects.  \n  \nThe Islamic section was formed from the first collection of 1854, which included Algerian and Oriental objects. It has gradually been enriched by pieces uncovered through archaeological excavations carried throughout the country. This wide-ranging collection includes sculpted plasterboard from 10th century Sedrata, marble or plaster sculptures of the 11th century Qal'a of Beni Hammad as well as the chairs of the 11th century Almoravid mosques in Algiers and the 12th century mosque of Nedroma.  \n  \nThe furniture arts of North Africa is also widely represented in this museum. Shop windows contain Ottoman-era embroidery, clothing, ceramics, weapons, jewellery, chiselled brass and worked repoussé that comes from the urban centres as well as rural areas. Manuscripts and miniatures complete the collection.  \n  \nThe museum’s numismatic collection is exhibited in a reading room that was inaugurated in May 2006.","city":"Algiers","address":"177, bd Krim-Belkacem, Parc de la Liberté  \nAlgiers, Algeria","website":"https://m-culture.gov.dz/index.php/fr/mus%C3%A9es","phone":"+213 0 21 68 11 29","fax":"+213 0 21 68 12 56","email":"museemna@musee-antiquites.art.dz"},"95483cda-d367-5af3-ad0e-2779b97409cb":{"name":"Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah","description":"Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah (DAI) is a cultural organisation based on a Kuwaiti private art collection owned by Sheikh Nasser Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah, founder of The al-Sabah Collection and his wife, DAI director general and co-founder Sheikha Hussah Sabah al-Salem al-Sabah.  \n  \nEstablished in 1983, DAI was created to manage The al-Sabah Collection, an esteemed collection of Islamic art on permanent loan to the State of Kuwait under the auspices of the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters. The collection preserves and presents all aspects of Islamic art and includes more than 20,000 pieces extending from Spain to China, from the 1st – 13th centuries AH/7th – 19th centuries AD.  \n  \nSince its inception, DAI has grown from a single focus organisation to an internationally recognised cultural organisation. DAI’s main activities include:  \n  \n• An annual Cultural Season (lectures, music concerts, forum, workshops, children’s programme, quarterly magazine/journal, quarterly newsletter, cultural expeditions)  \n• Travelling exhibitions and loans  \n• Conservation training programmes  \n• Research and excavation projects  \n  \nWith a highly specialised library, DAI is also involved in the publication of scholarly books on Islamic art and culture.  \n  \nWhile the rehabilitation project of DAI’s buildings at the Kuwait National Museum is underway, the Amricani Cultural Centre is the temporary home of DAI. The Amricani Cultural Centre is the ground for most of the organization’s activities and events, including local temporary exhibitions and DAI’s cultural season events.","city":"Kuwait City","address":"Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah  \nAmricani Cultural Centre  \nP.O. BOX: 23996 Safat 13100 Kuwait","website":"https://daralatharalislamiyyah.com/en/home-page-en/","phone":"+965 2240 0992","fax":"+965 2246 7770","email":"info@darmuseumkw.org"},"a05b0a22-d90a-5e08-85e3-53fd66868e26":{"name":"Museum of Islamic Art","description":"The Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) is a pioneering project spotlighting the cultural vision of the State of Qatar, both in the region and across the world. Under the guiding vision of His Excellency, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the project is the cornerstone for the State of Qatar in its establishment as a global capital of culture.  \n  \nThe 35,500 sq. m museum was designed by I.M. Pei, taking inspiration from the 13th-century *sabil* (ablutions fountain) of the 9th-century Mosque of Ahmad ibn Tulun in Cairo. The museum comprises a five-level main building and a two-storey Education Wing, connected across a fountain courtyard. The main building’s angular planes form ascending pinnacles, rising around an atrium. Inside, a dome is revealed, concealed from outside view by the walls of a central tower. A window on the building’s north side rises to a height of 54 m., providing dramatic views from all five floors. The ground floor is home to a temporary gallery space for touring international exhibitions and the café, giftshop and Information Services. The museum’s permanent exhibition is installed on two floors of galleries designed by the French firm Jean-Michel Wilmotte & Associés. The fourth floor contains temporary galleries showcasing the research topics of museum staff, using items either not seen in the permanent galleries or with new information to see them in a new way.  \n  \n**Overview of the collections**  \nThe MIA houses artefacts highlighting the creative achievements of the Islamic world's richest cultures and spanning nearly a thousand years. The collection represents the full scope of Islamic art in all media, from manuscripts to ceramics, metalwork, glass, stone, ivory, textiles, wood, precious stones and jewellery.  \n  \nThe permanent exhibition of *c.* 850 artefacts offers an insight into the diverse art of the Islamic world. Two floors are dedicated to the exploration of historical eras and interpretation of the themes of Islamic art and material culture, from the 8th century to the cusp of the 19th century.  \n  \nThe MIA also holds thousands more objects, some destined to be seen in future displays and others providing a resource for education and research.  \n  \nHighlights of the collection include: a distinguished group of carpets and textiles, a range of Ayyubid and Mamluk metalwork and enamelled glass, an outstanding strength in early ceramics, a comprehensive collection of astrolabes and scientific instruments, masterpieces of Mughal jewellery and rare manuscripts and miniatures.  \n  \n**The Department of Education and Information**  \nThe department’s main goal is to create materials, programmes and workshops that will engage the public, allowing them to explore the world through Islamic art, promoting a culture of learning within an atmosphere of knowledge and entertainment.  \n  \n**The Curatorial Department**  \nThe department of internationally trained curators is committed to studying, documenting and publicising the MIA’s collection and establishing the MIA as a world-class centre of scholarly research.  \n  \n**The Conservation Department**  \nSet to become a leading regional service centre for museums, the department is committed to restoring, preserving and caring for the collection through the application of innovative scientific methods.  \n  \n**International partnerships**  \nThe MIA is committed to building a network of partnerships around the world and offering institutes and museums collective access to information, research and images. It has strong ties with many world-class museums and collections, including the Louvre, France, the British Museum, UK, the Victoria & Albert Museum, UK, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, USA, the Museum für Islamische Kunst, Germany, the Al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait, the Gulbenkian, Portugal, and the National Museum of Antiquities and Islamic Art, Algeria.","city":"Doha","address":"Museum of Islamic Art roundabout, the Corniche  \nPostal Address: P.O. Box 2777  \nDoha, Qatar","website":"http://mia.org.qa/","phone":"+974 4422 4444","fax":"+974 4422 4447","email":"infomia@qma.org.qa; educationmia@qma.org.qa; librarymia@qma.org.qa"},"a3753de5-842a-5f0b-a8c7-50bb2e312ce6":{"name":"Kunsthistorisches Museum","description":"The Kunsthistorisches Museum (KHM) in Vienna is one of the foremost museums in the world, with rich holdings comprising artworks from seven millennia – from Ancient Egypt to the late 18th century. The collections of Renaissance and Baroque art are of particular importance.  \n  \nThe KHM’s extensive holdings are on show at different locations: the main building on Ringstrasse houses the Picture Gallery, the Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities, the Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection, the Coin Collection and the Kunstkammer.  \n  \nOther collections are housed in the Neue Burg (the Collection of Historical Musical Instruments, the Collection of Arms and Armour, and the Ephesus Museum), in Hofburg Palace (the Treasury) and in Schönbrunn Palace (the Collection of Historical Carriages).  \n  \nThe collections on show at Ambras Palace are also part of the holdings of the KHM.  \n  \nSince January 2001, the Museum of Ethnology on Heldenplatz and the Austrian Theatre Museum on Lobkowitz Square have been incorporated into the KHM.","city":"Vienna","address":"Burgring, 5  \n1010 Wien  \nAustria","website":"http://www.khm.at/","phone":"+43 1 525 24-0","email":"info@khm.at"},"af01a84d-b174-5718-b9a7-b741c8957086":{"name":"The British Museum","description":"The British Museum was established by Act of Parliament in 1753, the first national public museum in the world. From the beginning it granted free admission to all “studious and curious persons”. The founding collection was that of Sir Hans Sloane, a wealthy physician and collector. The original British Museum comprised three departments: Printed Books; Manuscripts (including coins); and Natural and Artificial Productions, which included everything from sculpture to mineral samples and zoological specimens. In January 1759 the British Museum opened its doors to the public.  \n  \nAs a product of the Enlightenment, the museum's job was to be a storehouse of knowledge for the use and benefit of the public, advancing all fields of scholarship. The museum therefore aimed to collect all kinds of material; it remains one of the few places in the world in which it is possible to see the world under one roof. During the 19th century the museum acquired representative collections of Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Assyrian antiquities, as well as material from across the Islamic world.  \n  \nThe museum itself had to grow to offer space to display the growing collections. Between 1823 and 1847 the original building was replaced by four large wings built around a central courtyard. In 1854 construction began on the iconic Round Reading Room in the central courtyard. The natural history collections were given their own home in the new Museum of Natural History in 1881. By 1973 the British Library and British Museum were administratively separated, and in 1999 the new British Library building opened at St Pancras. The British Museum site was expanded and modernised. In 2000 the Great Court opened, envisioned as a sunny piazza at the centre of the building, with up-to-date facilities such as lecture theatres, an education centre and facilities for school children, as well as restaurants and shops. In 2014 the World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre opened to the public, offering state-of-the-art facilities to care for, manage, research and display the collections.","city":"London","address":"Great Russell St.,  \nLondon WC1B 3DG  \nUnited Kingdom","website":"http://www.britishmuseum.org","phone":"+44 20 7323 8000 / 8299","fax":"+44 20 7323 8616","email":"information@britishmuseum.org"},"b132410f-9286-5691-bb2d-ecf8df460bd3":{"name":"Victoria and Albert Museum","description":"The Victoria and Albert (V&A) is the world’s leading museum of art and design, with collections unrivalled in their scope and diversity. When the museum opened to the public in 1852, its mission was to reform design by making works of art available to all, improving the public’s understanding of the subject and providing inspiration for designers and manufacturers. Today, the V&A’s collections span over 5,000 years of human creativity in virtually every medium and from many parts of the world.  \n  \nThe V&A comprises a family of sites, including the V&A in South Kensington, Young V&A located in Bethnal Green, V&A Dundee in Scotland, the V&A Wedgwood Collection housed in Barlaston, Stoke-on-Trent, V&A Gallery at Design Society in Shekou, China, and opening in 2024/25 will be V&A East located within the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford. Across these sites the museum showcases its collections to a wide range of audiences and aims to champion design and creativity in all its forms.  \n  \nThe V&A holds the UK’s national collection of glass, and covers over 3,500 years of glassmaking. There is a small collection of very early glass from Ancient Egypt through to Ancient Rome acquired in the early years of the museum, but the core of the collection is particularly rich in vessel and art glass from the Middle Ages to the contemporary period. The museum holds examples of work from the Italian Renaissance, the Middle-East, 17th-20th century Britain and Europe, and contemporary art glass from around the world. The V&A also holds an important collection of stained glass from the medieval period onwards.","city":"London","address":"Cromwell Road  \nSouth Kensington  \nSW7 2RL  \nLondon  \nUnited Kingdom","website":"http://www.vam.ac.uk","phone":"+44 207 9422000","fax":"+44 207 9422335"},"b3d5e8a5-90ae-5442-bf21-9067f8e77ed1":{"name":"Cerralbo Museum","description":"Cerralbo Palace, now Museum, was built between 1884 and 1892 in a historicist style with classical echoes, also shared by its garden. It contains the collections of Enrique de Aguilera y Gamboa, 17th Marquis of Cerralbo (1845–1922), a politician, historian, collector and pioneer of archaeology in Spain. After his death, he bequeathed his collection to the Spanish state. Paintings, furniture, clocks, porcelain, lamps, sculptures, arms and armour, textiles, books, coins and archaeological objects are displayed in the various rooms where the first inhabitants of the palace led their daily lives. Cerralbo Museum also has the distinction of being one of the few buildings in Madrid that shows the original decorative ambience of an aristocratic residence, thoroughly restored in the first decade of the 21st century.","city":"Madrid","address":"C / Ventura Rodríguez, 17  \n28008 Madrid  \nSpain","website":"http://museocerralbo.mcu.es/","phone":"+34 915 47 36 46 / 47","fax":"+34 915 59 11 71","email":"museo.cerralbo@mecd.es"},"ba8c2613-78d1-53bb-a8ff-a6dc36582fe1":{"name":"Regional Museum","description":"The Regional Museum in Olomouc dates back to 1883, when the Patriotic Museum Society established it as the first regional Czech museum in Moravia. Today the museum holds over one million items comprising geological, mineralogical, Palaeontological, zoological, entomological, archaeological, numismatic, ethnographical, cartographic, military, medical-pharmaceutical, musical, and decorative arts collections. More recently the collections have grown to include artefacts associated with the development of industry, transport, business and handcrafts.  \n  \nThe architectonic development of the region is shown in a large collection of topographical prints, drawings and paintings.  \n  \nThe museum’s photographic archive contains around 300,000 negatives. In the lapidarium, over 400 unique items document the evolution of the building from the Roman style to the 19th century. The library, with more than 70,000 volumes, also has a unique collection of 126 manuscripts and 2,000 ancient prints.  \n  \nAlongside the Museum’s permanent exhibition – From Astronomical Clock to Clocks –the Northern Hall and Large Hall host on average 20 temporary exhibitions annually.  \n  \nThe main purpose of the permanent exhibition is to illustrate the technical progress and development of styles associated with time-measuring instruments. There are Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Classical clocks, as well as documentation relating to the beginning of mass-production of clocks. A collection of well-preserved parts of Olomouc-produced astronomical clocks from the 16th century up to 1926, are also on display including machine mechanisms, clock faces, figural sculptures and remains of wood-carving and painted decoration. The Museum belongs within a selective group of institutions in Europe with similar collections.  \n  \nThe Regional Museum in Olomouc‘s permanent collection is housed in the former convent of the order of St. Clare, founded on the site in the 13th century, and rebuilt in the 18th century in the Late-Baroque style. The university library was located in the convent church. The convent was dissolved in 1781 by the emperor Joseph II. The buildings were used as barracks up until 1951 when the Regional Museum in Olomouc took them over.","city":"Olomouc","address":"Náměstí Republiky 5  \n771 73 Olomouc  \nCzech Republic","website":"http://www.vmo.cz","phone":"+420 585 515 111","fax":"+420 585 222 743","email":"vmo@vmo.cz"},"bbd3d5ff-f06e-515d-b3ae-1c0c2aab189d":{"name":"Further Associated Museums","description":"**Budapest**  \nHungarian National Museum  \nMuseum of Fine Arts  \n  \n**Eger**  \nDobó István Castle Museum  \n  \n**Esztergom**  \nChristian Museum of Esztergom  \n  \n**Nyíregyháza**  \nGreek Catholic Ecclesiastical Collection  \n  \n**Pannonhalma**  \nBenedictine Abbey, Picture Gallery  \n  \n**Sopron**  \nSopron Museum  \n  \n**Tata**  \nKuny Domokos Museum  \n  \n**Vác**  \nBishop’s Palace (Museum of the Diocese)"},"c0c2fa4f-c38c-578e-8cc1-4703cc60b8a9":{"name":"Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts","description":"The Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts was the first museum in Turkey to bring together works of Islamic art. It was founded in 1914 as the Museum of Islamic Foundations and housed in the Imaret building of the Süleymaniye Complex, built by the great Turkish architect Sinan in the 16th century. The museum was renamed the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts after the declaration of the republic and moved to its present location in the 16th-century Ibrahim Paşa Palace in 1983.  \n  \nThe core collection of the museum comprises Islamic artworks collected from across the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of the 20th century. These works include carpets, manuscripts, metalwork, glassware, ceramics, woodwork and ethnographic materials. The collection represents an extensive period ranging from the rise of Islam to the 20th century and the vast geographical area ruled by the Ottoman Empire.  \n  \nThe carpets, numbering some 1,700, in their quality and variety constitute one of the most important collections of carpets in the world, so that the museum is sometimes thought of as a carpet museum. But the museum also has other outstanding collections: the manuscripts collection represents all the ruling Islamic states from the AH 1st / AD 7th century to the 20th century across a wide geographical area. The metalwork collection allows visitors to follow the development of Turkish metalwork in Anatolia and the rich collection of woodwork ranges from the AH 3rd / AD 9th century to the Ottoman period. The glassware and pottery collections include artefacts recovered during excavations at renowned Abbasid centres such as Samarra and Keshan (Iran) and Raqqa (Syria) as well as artefacts from the Anatolian Turkish period. The stonework, most bearing inscriptions, includes examples from the Umayyad, Abbasid, Mamluk, Seljuq and Ottoman periods. The ethnographic department is the newest section.  \n  \nThe museum also organises, hosts and participates in temporary national and international exhibitions.  \n  \nAfter the grand restoration works The Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts re-opened in April 2014, exactly 100 years after its foundation, with special exhibitions to celebrate its hundredth anniversary.","city":"İstanbul","address":"İbrahim Paşa Sarayı Atmeydanı Sok. No: 46  \nSultanahmet, Istanbul, Turkey","website":"https://muze.gen.tr/muze-detay/tiem","phone":"+90 212 518 18 05 / 06","fax":"+90 212 518 18 07","email":"tiem@tiem.gov.tr"},"c2663ec9-f434-5a4e-a8d3-fb95be4adb76":{"name":"MIBACT | National Gallery of Modern Art (GNAM)","description":"The gallery, founded in 1881, is housed in a building designed by Bazzani to house the exhibition (1911) celebrating the 50th anniversary of Italian unification. The collection, representing regional and foreign schools acquired at national exhibitions and the Venice Biennale, represented the best of 19th-century Italian art. It was expanded by donations and bequests (e.g. of Celentano and Balla) and acquisitions of Macchiaoli, Divisionists, Modigliani, Burri and Fontana. Under the direction of Venturi, Bucarelli and Argan it acquired international prestige thanks to a broader museography, with Picasso, Mondrian and Pollock exhibitions.  \n  \nAlthough the advent of the Ministry of Culture deprived it of independence, acqusitions of the Transavanguardia movement and the promotion of young artists made it a museum of the 19th and 20th centuries.","city":"Rome","address":"Viale delle Belle Arti, 131  \n00196 Roma  \nItaly  \nEntrance for special needs: Via Gramsci, 71","website":"www.gnam.beniculturali.it/","phone":"+39 06 322 98","fax":"+39 06 322 15 79","email":"s-gnam@beniculturali.it"},"ca0e325c-0944-502c-ac42-7a2a27464669":{"name":"Museum of the Arab World Institute","description":"The 'institut du monde arabe' (Museum of the Arab world) in Paris houses a museum, labeled as a \"Musée de France,\" dedicated to the discovery and promotion of Arab culture. Located in the heart of the French capital, it holds a rich and diverse collection of artworks, historical objects, and cultural artifacts representing the various facets of the Arab world beyond stereotypes, showcasing its full diversity of cultures, ethnicities, languages, and faiths, from its origins to the present day. The museum's permanent and temporary exhibitions explore various themes covering a historical range from ancient Mediterranean civilizations to contemporary times, thanks to a rich collection of Islamic art and ethnographic objects as well as a collection of modern and contemporary artworks. The remarkable architecture of the building, designed by Jean Nouvel, blends tradition and modernity, offering visitors an immersive and captivating experience. The museum also offers educational activities, lectures, film screenings, and special events throughout the year, aiming to raise awareness about the richness and diversity of Arab culture. With its commitment to promoting intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding, the Institut du monde arabe's museum is a must-visit destination for art enthusiasts and curious individuals eager to explore the treasures of Arab heritage.","city":"Paris","address":"1, rue des Fossés Saint-Bernard  \nPlace Mohammed V  \n75 236 Paris Cédex 5","website":"https://www.imarabe.org/fr","phone":"+33 (0)1 40 51 38 38"},"cc176d16-7f00-5907-8a82-b1f3d06b7d4d":{"name":"Further Associated Museums","description":"**Zagreb**  \nCity Museum  \nCroatian History Museum  \nDiocese Museum of the Zagreb Archdiocese  \nMetropolitan Library, Valvasor Collection of prints and drawings  \nStrossmayer Gallery of Old Masters  \nZagreb Cathedral Treasury  \n  \n**Dubrovnik**  \nDubrovnik Cultural History Museum  \nMuseum of Icons of the Serbian Orthodox Church Community  \n  \n**Ilok**  \nCity Museum  \n  \n**Klanjec**  \nFranciscan Monastery  \n  \n**Osijek**  \nGallery of Fine Arts  \n  \n**Požega**  \nDiocese Museum of the Požega Diocese  \n  \n**Trakošćan**  \nTrakošćan Castle  \n  \n**Varaždin**  \nCity Museum"},"ce4d8147-795e-5a50-9c18-cf90561d29e5":{"name":"Rabat Archaeological Museum","description":"**Historical Description**  \n  \nWith 550 objects on display and thousands more in storage, the Rabat Archaeological Museum, founded in 1928, is one of the most prestigious national museums. It traces the history of Morocco from prehistoric times to the Islamic era. It is the culmination of a series of expansions and improvements that have made possible the inclusion of prehistoric, ancient and Islamic collections. A museum tour developed after renovations in 2003–04 highlights objects from excavations of the Almohad Tinmel Mosque and around the Koutoubia Mosque of Marrakesh.  \n  \n**Museum Collections**  \n  \nThe exhibits are displayed in three rooms, a patio and a garden.  \n  \n– On the ground floor, a chronological tour retraces the history of pre-Islamic Morocco: prehistoric civilisations, and then the Phoenician, Mauritanian and Roman eras, each represented by characteristic tools and objects.  \n  \n– Upstairs, the Islamic collections are organised by themes. Coins come from successive dynasties in Morocco. Ceramics display different techniques specific to the Islamic period, such *cuerda seca* (dry cord), stamping, metallic or polychrome glazes. Housing is represented both in its structural and decorative aspects: concrete work, but also murals, painted or engraved wood, capitals, trellises, stucco, and more.  \n  \n– The second themed section highlights antique marble statuary, with different artistic movements from Mauritania Tingitana (a Roman province). Prestigious works illustrate mythology and the history and public life of the Roman Empire: Venus, Theseus Slaying the Minotaur, Ephebe Pouring Drink, an imposing head of Juno, and busts of Juba II and Cato are among many pieces of inestimable scientific and aesthetic value.  \n  \n– The third section has a collection of inscriptions and rock carvings.  \n  \n*The Rabat Archaeological Museum is known today as the Museum of History and Civilisations.*","city":"Rabat","address":"23, rue Brihi  \nRabat, Morocco","phone":"+212 537 70 19 19"},"d4a98989-670f-57f0-806b-0923d3e7b276":{"name":"National Museum Oman","description":"The National Museum of the Sultanate of Oman, established by royal decree in 2013 and opened July 30, 2016, is the Sultanate's flagship cultural institution, showcasing the nation’s heritage from the earliest human settlement in the Oman Peninsula some two million years ago through to the present day. As a national institution with global outreach, the museum is dedicated to ensuring that Oman’s cultural heritage is understood and appreciated not only within the Sultanate, but also internationally. Further, it aims to provide opportunities for cultural expression, innovation, and the transfer of traditional skills and knowledge from one generation to the next.  \n  \nThe museum is located in the heart of Muscat in a purpose-designed building. The total area of the building is 13,700 square metres (147,000 sq ft), including 4,000 square metres (43,000 sq ft) allocated for 14 permanent galleries – The Land and the People Gallery, Maritime History Gallery, Arms and Armour Gallery, Aflaj Gallery, Currency Gallery, Prehistory and Ancient History Galleries, Splendours of Islam Gallery, Oman and the World Gallery, Intangible Heritage Gallery and Renaissance Gallery, among others. A further 400 square metres (4,300 sq ft) are allocated for temporary exhibitions.  \n  \nThe National Museum houses 5,466 objects and offers 43 digital immersive experiences, a fully equipped Learning Centre, conservation facilities, an ultra-high definition cinema, and discovery areas for children. It features an integrated infrastructure for special needs and is the first museum in the Middle East to adopt Arabic Braille script for the visually impaired. The museum contains a voluminous collection of prehistoric metallic artefacts. It also houses the region’s first open-plan museum storage concept, where visitors can learn about the various processes that artefacts go through before they are put on display.","city":"Muscat","address":"P.O.Box: (1105)  \n113 Muscat","website":"https://www.nm.gov.om/","email":"booking@nm.gov.om"},"d5cbde37-0645-5fff-928c-0190e87f0c5b":{"name":"City Museum","description":"The Brno City Museum was established in 1904. Since 1960, the museum has been seated in Špilberk Castle, the Baroque fortress known as the “Dungeon of the nations”. The permanent exhibition presents casemates that were part of the Baroque fortress system converted into the civil prison during the reign of Emperor Joseph II. On display are the collections of historic weapons, watches, glass, porcelain, furniture, fashion accessories, vedute, paintings and sculptures. The most important collection presents the prominent Late-Baroque Moravian sculptor, Ondřej Schweigl’s (1735–1812) life and work, and its association with Brno.","city":"Brno","address":"Špilberk 1  \n662 24 Brno  \nCzech Republic","website":"http://www.spilberk.cz","phone":"+420 542 123 611","fax":"+420 542 123 613","email":"muzeum.brno@spilberk.cz"},"d8cdb3eb-45fb-5ddf-a4cb-305d3f9d955b":{"name":"Istanbul Postal Museum","description":"The Istanbul Postal Museum is dedicated to the historical development of mail and telecommunication services in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey, exhibiting related equipment, instruments and postage stamps.  \n  \nThe museum is situated inside the Main Post Office building in Sirkeci quarter of Fatih district in Istanbul. The museum has a separate entrance and occupies four storeys in the western part of the building. It informs visitors about the country’s history of communication and telecommunication services, which officially began on 23 October 1840 with the foundation of the Ottoman Ministry of Post. Established on 6 May 2000 by the Turkish Post, the museum consists of four sections for mail, telegraphy, telephony and postage stamps. Photographs taken during the construction of the building are also displayed.","city":"Istanbul","address":"Hobyar Mahallesi,  \nBüyük Postane Caddesi, 25  \nFatih, Istanbul  \nTurkey","website":"www.ptt.gov.tr","phone":"+90 212 519 19 99","fax":"+90 212 512 09 49","email":"istav-muze@ptt.gov.tr"},"d9f6c12d-ca03-5d6e-b33c-c1a37daec1fa":{"name":"Glasgow Museums","description":"Although not the capital, Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland. It prides itself on its multi-cultural scene with a prosperous Muslim community representing the largest non-white Scottish group in the city and in Scotland. The Glasgow Museums collection is the biggest managed by any local authority in the United Kingdom and one of a handful of municipal collections that are recognized to have national importance. This service was founded in 1854 with the McLellan collection of European paintings, which was donated to the people of Glasgow by Archibald McLellan together with a building to house it. At present Glasgow manages thirteen public museums covering a wide range of subjects.  \n  \nGlasgow’s Islamic collections come from all over the world with objects from Africa, Spain, the Middle East and Central Asia. The oldest items date back to the 10th and 11th centuries. The earliest objects to enter the museums’ collections were donated in the 1870s. Though many of these are private donations, some were purchased by the museum service. The Islamic collections are mainly housed at The Burrell Collection, The St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art, Glasgow Museums Resource Centre, and Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.  \n  \nThe main strength of the Islamic collections lies in the large donation of Sir William Burrell and his wife, who gifted their massive and varied collection to Glasgow in 1944. It includes Iranian and Mughal Indian ceramics and carpets, Turkish and Uzbek textiles and embroideries, and Hispano-Moresque lustrewares. The other Islamic collections of Glasgow Museums include objects from Mughal India, Fatimid and Mamluk Egypt and Syria, the Ottoman Middle East, and 19th century Berber and Arab North Africa. In addition to all of the above, Glasgow Museums is interested in developing its contemporary Islamic collections by welcoming donations of modern Islamic arts and crafts, as well as strengthening the other areas within its Islamic collections.","city":"Glasgow","address":"The Burrell Collection  \nPollok Country Park  \n2060 Pollokshaws Road  \nG43 1AT  \nGlasgow, United Kingdom","website":"http://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/","phone":"+44 141 2872550","fax":"+44 141 2872597"},"dbffb8f8-6183-5d07-a911-b7386d37aaab":{"name":"Lázaro Galdiano Museum","description":"The Museo Lázaro Galdiano is a result of the generous spirit of collector D. Jose Lázaro, who left to the Spanish state under his will of 1947 his house, library of 20,000 volumes and 13,000 artworks.  \nThe museum was installed in the neo-Renaissance palace that was the Lázaro family home and opened in 1951. In 2005 it was restored, with a rearrangement of the collections that highlights the importance of Spanish art. The museum spaces evoke the places where the collection was enjoyed by the leading intellectuals of the time. Works by Goya, El Greco, Velázquez, Reynolds, Isenbrandt, Hubert van Eyck and Constable coexist with important collections of sculpture, ivories, enamels, bronzes and textiles. José Lázaro took special interest in Hispano-Muslim art and art of the first Spanish Renaissance.","city":"Madrid","address":"C/ Serrano, 122  \n28006 Madrid  \nSpain","website":"www.flg.es","phone":"+34 91 561 60 84","fax":"+34 91 561 77 93","email":"amparo.lopez@flg.es"},"de796842-f078-5eec-9f69-8b497cfb8d37":{"name":"Revoltella Civic Museum","description":"The Revoltella Museum is a modern art gallery whose origins lie in the institution founded in 1872 under the will of Baron Pasquale Revoltella (1795–1869). He was one of the most outstanding and authoritative figures of imperial Trieste and played a major role in both economic and political affairs. His main endeavours were concentrated on facilitating the opening of the Suez Canal. Trieste, a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918, was a major port, and Revoltella believed it to be crucial to developing the empire’s economy through maritime trade. In 1852 Revoltella entrusted Berlin architect Friedrich Hitzig to design his palace. Revoltella bequeathed his palace and his art collection to the city of Trieste. He also bestowed significant revenues on the museum, enabling a continuous increase of patrimony and accumulation of a considerable art collection.","city":"Trieste","address":"Via Diaz, 27  \n34123 Trieste  \nItaly","website":"http://www.museorevoltella.it/","phone":"+39 040 675 4350","fax":"+39 040 6754137","email":"revoltella@comune.trieste.it"},"defa425b-fe47-5a8e-bb82-33721be61de9":{"name":"Batha Museum","description":"Built in 1885, the original building was a courthouse and summer residence of the Alaouite sultan Moulay Hassan I before being renovated as a museum in 1915. The Batha Museum brings together archaeological collections, architectural elements and ethnographic objects relating to the city of Fez and its surrounding area. Since a reorganisation in 2006, the museum’s theme has revolved around spiritual life and the art of living.  \n  \nThrough large rooms overlooking the patio and garden, the tour begins with the city’s Islamic origins: manuscripts illuminated with gold leaf, liturgical wooden objects, planispheric brass astrolabes – and a rare example of a leather astrolabe dial. One section is dedicated to architectural elements. Wood is featured: friezes, panels, lintels and other corbels from different dynasties display Moroccan craftsmanship. Besides their artistic value, some pieces are historical and archaeological treasures, such as the beam dating from AD 877, the oldest wood in Islamic Morocco, evidence of the city of Kairouan’s artistic influences.  \n  \nZelliges (handmade terracotta tiles) are a distinctive feature of Moroccan-Andalusian Islamic architecture, with excellent collections here in the Batha Museum, with some dating back to the 14th century.  \n  \nAlso on exhibit are traditional arts from Fez, whose richness and variety are manifested in a collection of delicate embroidery in a single thread colour, and a variety of ornaments and wedding dresses for brides typically from the cities. There is also a rich collection of tin-based ceramics enamelled in a monochrome blue-grey.  \n  \nVisitors can discover rural crafts and museum-quality objects like jewellery and pottery outside the city of Fez.","city":"Fès","address":"Ksar El Batha  \nPlace du 11 janvier  \nFès, Morocco","phone":"+212 53 563 41 16"},"ee0a71f8-dc12-5d5d-b02a-4402969e8274":{"name":"Museum of Islamic Art","description":"The Museum of Islamic Arts of Kairouan is located in Raqqada, in a former presidential palace that was converted into a cultural and educational centre in 1986. It contains four rooms on the main floor and upstairs.  \n  \nOn the ground floor are:  \n– The ceramics room, which houses objects dating back to the Aghlabid, Fatimid and Hafsid eras. Those of the Aghlabid era are characterised by the use of metallic lustre glazes, archaic Kufic script and stylised zoomorphic and anthropomorphic images. This room displays a collection of blue Iznik ceramic tiles from Anatolia.  \n  \n– The hall of the Great Mosque, which houses religious objects such as friezes with floral and epigraphic motifs that form part of the roofing. There is also a reconstruction of the *mihrab* from the mosque and the door of the *maqsoura* (private enclosure).  \n  \n– The Lapidary Inscriptions Room, which is under development, will house flat, prismatic and column-barrel gravestones from the Kairouan Cemetery. It will also contain the inscription of the foundation of the city of Sabra al-Mansouriya, characterised by its writing style and its imposing size.  \n  \n\\- The Sabra al-Mansouriya Hall, expected to receive objects from the Sabra excavation, now contains the casting furnace found on the same site.  \n  \nUpstairs:  \nThe glass cases of the coin and jewellery room hold a large collection of coins dating back to the Aghlabid, Fatimid, Hafsid and Ottoman eras, showing their evolution over time. This room also contains glass objects from the Sabra site and the lantern from al-Mouiz.  \n  \nThe manuscript room contains a rich collection of parchment Qur’an folios from the library of the Great Mosque of Kairouan displaying the evolution of writing and ornamentation styles (3rd / 9th to the 13th / 19th century). The collection owes its unique reputation to the famous “blue parchment” of the 4th / 10th century. Enclosing these folios are leather bindings embossed with floral and geometric designs.  \n  \nAn exhibition such as this one helps us interpret the history of the city of Kairouan. The newer Sabra Hall, the Hall of Lapidary Inscriptions and the Hall of the Great Mosque of Kairouan will further our understanding.","city":"Kairouan","address":"Musée des arts islamiques  \nKairouan-Raqqada","phone":"+216 77 228126","fax":"+216 77 228469"},"f0c1b6b9-8198-5a97-9aea-8ebedfa90ca3":{"name":"Museum of Islamic Art","description":"At the order of Khedive Ismail Pasha in 1880 the collection of archaeological rarities from the Islamic era was begun in the mosque of Al- Hakim. The Council for the Preservation of Arab Antiquities, created in 1881 in association with the Ministry of Awqaf, supervised the House of Arab Antiquities, as it was then known, until 1930 when the museum was taken into the Ministry of Education.  \n  \nThe museum acquired only from mosques and public buildings in its first 20 years. Then it undertook its first excavation in 1910 in the vicinity of Doronka in Upper Egypt and a second excavation south of Cairo uncovering a section of the city of Fustat (first Islamic capital of Egypt).  \n  \nThe museum acquired many items through donations. King Fu’ad I gave a valuable collection of textiles, scales and seals as did King Farouk, Amir Muhammad Ali and Amir Yusuf Kamal. Amir Kamal al-Din Hussein, Yakub Artin Pasha and Ali Ibrahim Pasha also donated complete collections.  \n  \nThe collections, amounting to 7082 artefacts, were transferred to their current building, when the present museum was inaugurated in December 1903. In 1952, the name of the museum was changed to the ‘Museum of Islamic Art’ to reflect the scope of the collection: objects produced in the Islamic world and dating from the beginning of the Islamic era (AD 7th century) to the end of the AD 19th century. The number of recorded objects has now reached 103,000.  \n  \nThe collections include enamelled glass lamps, Egyptian ceramics and a rare collection of filigree waterpot filters of unpainted earthenware renowned for their lacework designs. There are also collections of woodwork, textiles and stones with inscriptions, while the collection of carpets is considered to be one of the greatest of its kind. Collections of scientific instruments display the extent to which Islamic civilisation has contributed to knowledge in many different fields. There is also an extraordinary collection of seals, weights, measures, gold, silver and copper coins.  \n  \nThe Museum of Islamic Art, having one of the most comprehensive and complete Islamic art collections in the world continues to develop and expand its collections and to modernise the building with its 25 halls, facilities and archaeological garden.","city":"Cairo","website":"https://www.miaegypt.org/","phone":"+20 2 2390 1520"},"f446146a-791c-5ab5-a762-4bd0263541be":{"name":"Moravian Gallery","description":"The Moravian Gallery in Brno, the second largest art museum in the Czech Republic, is exceptional for the wide range of artistic disciplines it covers. It is the only institution in the country collecting visual art that is concerned with painting, drawing, graphic art and sculpture – from the past and the present – as well as photography, applied art and design.  \n  \nFounded in Brno in 1961 by amalgamating the Museum of Applied Arts and the Picture Gallery of the Moravian Museum, it is housed in three centrally located and architecturally impressive buildings. The Moravian Gallery in Brno sets out to present visual culture from within the Czech Republic in a European context, through both permanent and temporary exhibitions. To achieve its goals it works together with a number of institutions at home and abroad and participates in international projects. At a global level the most renowned event organised by the Moravian Gallery in Brno is the International Biennale of Graphic Design, which has been taking place here since 1963.  \n  \nThe temporary displays and permanent exhibitions are enriched by an accompanying programme of lectures, guided tours, workshops, concerts and performances created to suit the whole spectrum of visitors. Special attention is paid to children, whether visiting individually or in school groups.  \n  \nA testimonial to the museum's accessibility is a collection of art for the visually impaired and related exhibition projects such as Possible Messages and Invisible Causes.","city":"Brno","address":"Husova 18,  \nCZ-662 00 Brno  \nCzech Republic","website":"http://www.moravska-galerie.cz","phone":"+420 532 169 111; 532 169 130","email":"info@moravska-galerie.cz"},"f533d81d-c3e7-57c1-955a-e9aac47d7bb3":{"name":"Hungarian National Gallery","description":"The Hungarian National Gallery (HNG) is the largest public collection documenting and presenting the rise and development of fine arts in Hungary. It has operated as an independent institution since 1957 moving to its present location, the former Royal Palace of Buda, in 1975.  \n  \nIn 1957 a new museum, the Hungarian National Gallery, was created for the collection and display of specifically Hungarian art. The basis of its collection was the New Hungarian Picture Gallery at the Budapest Museum of Fine Arts, and the Hungarian material belonging to that museum’s collections of modern sculpture, medals, and prints and drawings. The holdings of the new institution included approximately 6,000 paintings, 2,100 sculptures, 3,100 medals, 11,000 drawings and 5,000 prints. The HNG opened in Budapest on 5 October 1957, in a building that formerly housed the Supreme Court.  \n  \nIn 1975 the HNG moved to Buda Palace, into buildings B, C and D, which had been specially refurbished. In October of that year it opened its exhibitions in a provisional form. Its holdings were augmented with items from the Department of Old Hungarian Art at the Budapest Museum of Fine Arts, making it possible to show the entire history of art in Hungary, with works from the 11th century to the present.  \n  \nOver subsequent years other permanent exhibitions have been added: Panel Paintings and Wooden Sculptures from the Mediaeval Period and Baroque Art in Hungary in 1979; Late Gothic Winged Altarpieces opened in the former throne-room of the palace in 1982; and Mediaeval and Renaissance Stone Carvings opened in 1985.  \n  \nInside the museum, on the ground floor of Building C, the crypt of the Habsburg palatines (viceroys) was opened to the public in 1989, and in 2005, the HNG’s exhibition spaces were further augmented by the acquisition of Building A of Buda Castle.","city":"Budapest","address":"Szent György tér 2  \nH-1014 Budapest  \nHungary  \n  \nPOSTAL ADDRESS:  \nH-1250 Budapest  \nPO Box 31  \nHungary","website":"http://www.mng.hu","phone":"+36 1 375 8858","fax":"+36 1 375 8898","email":"mng@mng.hu"},"f5c11bd8-33ca-5552-a5d9-8437afd6ee27":{"name":"The Lebanese University","description":"The Lebanese University is the only public institution for higher learning in Lebanon. The university has 17 faculties across Lebanon and serves various cultural, religious and social groups of students and teachers.  \n  \nThe independent university enjoys administrative, academic and financial freedom. Among its educational goals are creating a unique mix of cultures and providing the basic and essential education to allow students to enter various professions.  \n  \nIn spite of the crisis in the region that has existed since 1975, leaving wounds and tragedies, the Lebanese University has remained the national home of science. Rivalling the most prestigious universities in Lebanon and abroad, and leading the process of human development that spread all over the country, its graduates became ambassadors of Lebanon in all the corners of the earth.  \n  \nOur university respects the national demand for academic freedom, which has become a right of scholars and specialists, based on laws and international conventions and regional organisations and sometimes more, applying the important rules of human rights: the right of learning and seeking knowledge with higher education and participation in international projects to develop academic programmes and exchange of research.The university has maintained the quality of higher education, although we seek more contact with the spirit of this modern age and its promising accomplishments by increasing relations and agreements with other universities and institutions all over the world. In spite of the political pressures on the people of the university and attempts to split them into factions, the majority of them have remained faithful to the spirit of the national organisation and the struggles of the early pioneers who insisted on building the edifice of national higher education, in the framework of the values of freedom and justice.","city":"Beirut","address":"Central Administration, Museum, Beirut  \n  \nPostal address: P.O. Box 6573/14 Badaro, Museum  \nBeirut  \nLebanon","website":"http://www.ul.edu.lb/","phone":"+961 1 612830; 1 612831","email":"ibady@ul.edu.lb"},"f6a3053d-d710-547e-be54-96097d448f7a":{"name":"National Museum of Damascus","description":"The National Museum in Damascus was established under the supervision of the Ministry of Education in 1919. The original core of this museum's contents was initially kept at the Madrasa al-'Adiliya. The collection gradually increased and the discovery of the Umayyad palace of Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi in the Syrian desert in 1936 further spurred into action plans for a newer and bigger museum. A building located next to Al-Takiyya al-Sulaymaniya was chosen for the establishment of the National Museum of Damascus.  \n  \nQasr Al-Hayr Al-Gharbi added new emphasis to the importance of devoting more attention to the Islamic period and the Directors of Antiquities decided to incorporate these palatial finds into the National Museum of Damascus. After much hard work and technical expertise, the front façade of the Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi was transposed and carefully reconstructed as the National Museum's main entrance. The side halls and the second floor were designated for the most important artistic finds of this early Islamic palace. The completion of the display took several years and the official opening was celebrated in 1950.  \n  \nIn 1953 a three-storey wing was added to house and display ancient oriental antiquities, the Islamic period, modern Syrian art, and temporary exhibitions.  \n  \nOne of the more recent extensions included three double halls for the Islamic period, a new lecture hall and a library. The lecture hall was furnished as a 19th-century Damascene reception hall, a masterpiece of late decoration and ornamentation in its own right. The opening of this extension took place in 1963.  \n  \nIn 1974 there were further additions, this time devoted to the Palaeolithic period. And lastly, in 2004, the temporary exhibition wing was transformed into a permanent collection of Neolithic antiquities.  \n  \nAt present, the National Museum of Damascus consists of the following sections:  \n  \n1\\. Palaeolithic.  \n2\\. Neolithic.  \n3\\. Ancient Syrian Oriental.  \n4\\. Classical.  \n5\\. Islamic.  \n6\\. Modern Arts.","city":"Damascus","address":"Qasr el-Heir Street  \nDamascus, Syria","phone":"+963 11 2234331","fax":"+963 11 2247983","email":"sam.orient@mail.sy"},"f72fb94f-1822-5cff-9f41-8593a1edb4e8":{"name":"Weilheim City Museum","description":"The museum founded in October 1882 by the citizen Benedikt Höck, and focusing on Weilheim's cultural history, has been located since 1966 in ten rooms on three floors of the Old Town Hall, which is directly beside the urban parish church. The detached building, used for administration until 1936, was built in 1538, when the city celebrated the 300th jubilee of its founding, and was rebuilt in 1788–91 (with noble facades by Franz Joseph Bader from nearby Wessobrunn). Since 1977 there has been a special room for exhibitions in the former public bakery hall on the ground floor on the building's western side.  \n  \nThe collection of nearly 500 objects places particular emphasis on sculpture since the Middle Ages, especially from the Weilheim School *c*. 1600, painting and applied art since the late Gothic era, furniture (for example, an impressive cupboard by Clement Betle, 1587), a model of the city from 1811, and one of the oldest nativity cribs in Bavaria (1721) consisting of 62 figures which are painted on carved panels. Also interesting are two Bavarian rustic sleeping-rooms from *c*.1782–1820 and 1824.","city":"Weilheim","address":"Marienplatz, 1  \nD-82362 Weilheim i.OB","website":"http://www.weilheim.de/index.asp?tid=2&cid=11373&nid=96","phone":"+49 881 682600","fax":"+49 881 682299","email":"stadtmuseum@weilheim.de"},"fae81dae-0250-52ec-acc1-171da28b9eef":{"name":"Borghese Gallery","description":"The Casino Borghese ­– today the Borghese Museum and Gallery – was commissioned from Flaminio Ponzio by Pope Paolo V's nephew, Cardinal Scipione Caffarelli Borghese, who wanted a suburban villa to house his art collections. It was completed after Ponzio's death by Giovanni Vasanzio in 1613–15.  \n  \nCasino Borghese lies inside a great park and the garden is divided into three precincts divided by a series of spaces and buildings: the Casino, three Secret Gardens, the Aviary, the Meridiana Pavilion.  \n  \nCardinal Borghese's antique collection was augmented by archaeological excavations on the family property and by acquisitions such as the collections of Ceoli and Tommaso e Giovan Battista Della Porta.  \n  \nThe cardinal was uninterested in medieval art, but was very interested in renaissance and contemporary art. He used his powerful position to increase his collection by any means, including confiscation. He imprisoned Domenichino to obtain his *La Caccia di* *Diana* and ordered the secret removal to Rome of Raphael's *Deposition* from the Baglioni Chapel in Perugia.  \n  \nScipione commissioned works from the most important contemporary artists: Bernini, Caravaggio, Guido Reni, Guercino, Lanfranco, Domenichino, Algardi, Cavalier d'Arpino, Rubens, Lavinia Fontana, Nicolas Cordier and Antonio Susini. He also bought many paintings from the Ferrara School. With Scipione the renaissance concept of the aristocratic patron was transformed into the 'modern' collector.  \n  \nAfter the marriage of Paolo Borghese and Olimpia Aldobrandini (1682) part of the Aldobrandini inheritance was incorporated in the Borghese collection.  \n  \nBetween 1770 and 1793 Marcantonio IV Borghese renewed the villa in neoclassical style. His son Camillo married Pauline Bonaparte and was persuaded by his brother-in-law, Napoleon, to 'sell' him (1807) a considerable part of the archaeological collection, which now is in the Louvre; fortunately Camillo also bought many works such as Correggio's *Danae* (1827) and Guercino's *Prodigal Son* and commissioned from Canova (1805–8) a sculpture of Pauline as *Venus Victrix*, a neoclassical masterpiece. Gaps caused by the 'sale' were filled with new finds from recent excavations and works from various Borghese residences.  \n  \nIn 1902 the Casino Borghese and its collection were acquired by Italian Government.  \n  \nAmong the great pieces in the collection are: Titian's *Sacred and Profane Love*; marble sculptures by Bernini including *Apollo and Daphne*, *Pluto and Proserpina*, *David*, *Aeneas and Anchises*; paintings by Caravaggio including *Boy with a Basket of Fruit*, *Madonna of the Palafrenieri* and *David with the Head of Goliath*; and many works by Raphael, Rubens, Pinturicchio, Perugino, Titian, Domenichino, Carracci and many others.","city":"Rome","address":"Piazzale Scipione Borghese, 5  \nI - 00197 Rome","website":"http://galleriaborghese.beniculturali.it/it","phone":"+39 06 8413979","fax":"+39 06 8840756"},"fea32901-ad4a-5972-8043-fd04f11ab0ee":{"name":"Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia","description":"Interest in Islamic art has grown enormously in recent years. Reflecting this awareness, in December 1998 Malaysia became home to Southeast Asia’s largest museum of Islamic art. The building occupies 30,000 square metres, situated amid the leafy surroundings of central Kuala Lumpur’s Lake Gardens.  \n  \nThe Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia houses more than ten thousand artefacts, as well as an exceptional library of Islamic art books. The art objects on display range from the tiniest pieces of jewellery to one of the world’s largest scale models of the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca. The aim is to create a collection that is truly representative of the Islamic world. Instead of concentrating on works from the heartlands of Persia and the Middle East, IAMM also puts the emphasis on Asia. China and Southeast Asia are especially well represented. The third component of the Malaysian melting pot is India, which is also given special status. India, China and the Malay World are in an exceptional category. Other parts of the collection are displayed according to type rather than geographical origins in the museum’s 12 galleries.  \n  \nIranian tile workers transformed the iwan-style entrance into a ceramic tapestry that frames a welcoming verse from the Qur’an. On the roof, these artisans turned the dome-construction traditions of Central Asia into the building’s crowning glory. The turquoise-coloured domes are now a landmark on the Kuala Lumpur skyline.  \n  \nInside the building, the angularity of 21st century design is contrasted with the soft, rounded forms of the five domes that dominate the museum’s interior. Laboured over by craftsmen from Uzbekistan, these imposing features help form an ambience that is both airy and harmony. The seamless continuity of light and space is maintained throughout the galleries and into other areas of the museum, such as the library and the restaurant.","city":"Kuala Lumpur","address":"Jalan Lembah Perdana  \n50480 Kuala Lumpur  \nMalaysia","website":"http://www.iamm.org.my","phone":"+603 20927070; +603 22742020","fax":"+603 22740529","email":"info@iamm.org.my"}}
+{"01ed0e00-4aed-5afc-bdea-937514669d4b":{"name":"Victoria and Albert Museum","description":"The Victoria and Albert (V&A) is the world’s leading museum of art and design, with collections unrivalled in their scope and diversity. When the museum opened to the public in 1852, its mission was to reform design by making works of art available to all, improving the public’s understanding of the subject and providing inspiration for designers and manufacturers. Today, the V&A’s collections span over 5,000 years of human creativity in virtually every medium and from many parts of the world.  \n  \nThe V&A comprises a family of sites, including the V&A in South Kensington, Young V&A located in Bethnal Green, V&A Dundee in Scotland, the V&A Wedgwood Collection housed in Barlaston, Stoke-on-Trent, V&A Gallery at Design Society in Shekou, China, and opening in 2024/25 will be V&A East located within the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford. Across these sites the museum showcases their collections to a wide range of audiences and aims to champion design and creativity in all its forms.  \n  \nThe V&A has specialised in collecting art and design from the Islamic world since the 1850s, and it was the first institution in the world to collect Islamic art in a systematic fashion. The museum's founders believed that Islamic ideas about structuring patterns and matching decoration to shape and function could improve British design. The collection grew to become the most significant in its field. Outstanding works include the AH 10th / AD 16th-century Ardabil carpet from Iran, a rock crystal ewer from AH 5th / AD 11th-century Egypt, and the world’s greatest collections of Islamic ceramics. The museum also houses the national collection of Islamic textiles.","city":"London","address":"Cromwell Road  \nSouth Kensington  \nSW7 2RL  \nLondon  \nUnited Kingdom","website":"http://www.vam.ac.uk","phone":"+44 207 9422000","fax":"+44 207 9422335"},"0cf029c2-3b3c-5f0a-8926-e552386ea3b2":{"name":"National Museum of Decorative Arts","description":"The National Museum of Decorative Arts (MNAD) devotes its permanent collection to historical and current domestic spaces and allows visitors to experience the daily life of various cultures. Temporary exhibitions focus primarily on the contemporary designers and artists – both established and emerging – that create our environment. Through these visiting exhibits, the museum is able to display parts of the permanent collection kept in storage and generally not visible to the public.  \n  \nThe museum houses a permanent collection of over 70,000 objects from several geographic origins; mainly Spain, but also other European countries and the Far East. The collection covers a long chronological period. The oldest pieces date from the 4th century BC, but the chronological sequence goes from the 14th century until the first half of the 21st century, including the collection of avant-garde design as well as recent acquisitions of contemporary design.  \n  \nThis broad collection includes a full range of materials, techniques and typologies, including textiles, metalwork, furniture, ceramics, glass, costumes, silver, ironwork, ivory, photographs, prints and documents.  \n  \nIn 1934 the museum moved to its present location, a mansion built in 1878 by the architect José María González for Doña María del Carmen Espinosa, the Duchess of Santoña. Part of the original red-brick and stone facade, the imperial staircase of white Italian marble decorated with medallions and the Italian mosaic floors by Pellerin and Domenico still remain from the original concept of the building, a residence in the Romantic style. In the 1940s the architect Luis Moya added two floors above the original ones, structured in enfilade around a central court. Since then, the museum has undergone various improvements.","city":"Madrid","address":"C/ Montalbán, 12  \n28014 Madrid  \nSpain","website":"http://mnartesdecorativas.mcu.es/","phone":"+34 91 532 64 99","fax":"+34 91 523 20 86","email":"mnad@mecd.es"},"159ca886-fdb4-5a93-98ef-f31ba3dd0b6b":{"name":"Technological Glass Museum. Royal Factory of Glass and Crystal of La Granja","description":"The Museo Tecnológico del Vidrio is located in the old Real Fábrica de Cristales de La Granja, one of the most important 18th Century European Industrial buildings and a truly distinguishing part of the Real Sitio de San Ildefonso and all its surroundings.  \n  \nThis noble construction, erected under the orders of the sovereign Carlos III, in accordance with the plans developed by builder Joseph Díaz Gamones in 1770 and declared BIC, gave rise to the creation of the Fundación Centro Nacional del Vidrio in 1982, with a view to restore the historic building, its history and most traditional techniques. Covering more than 25,000 square metres, it currently houses the Museo Tecnológico del Vidrio, the Library and the Escuela del Vidrio, in addition to Furnaces and Workshops.  \n  \nThe route around the Museum begins in the Furnace Hall, a majestic space with a basilica-shaped layout with two large brick domes in which the melting furnaces were located. The **Tecnología del Vidrio (Glass Technology)** exhibition can be found in this space. The furnace can be accessed from the wood patio and demonstrates how the master glass blowers skillfully reproduce the old glass pieces at La Granja, using traditional glass blowing techniques with a blowpipe. On one side of the Main Cowtyard is the woodshed, where various craftspeople can be seen cutting and decorating pieces of glass, in addition to making the glass chandeliers so characteristic of La Granja.  \n  \nThe ground floor is home to the **Maumejean Workshop Stained Glass Room**. This is a prestigious workshop, with headquarters in both France and Spain, which between the late 19th Century and the first half of the 20th Century provided for a number of religious and civil buildings, in addition to private houses from Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia.  \n  \nThis is then followed by the **History of Glass** rooms. It brings together a selection of glass work from Antiquity to the present day.  \n  \nThe Polishing Nave houses the remains of the old hydraulic machine that polished flat glass, designed by Demetrio Crow.  \n  \nThe upper floor hosts the **La Granja Glass Room**, consisting of numerous National Heritage deposits, the Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas de Madrid and the Museo Nacional del Prado, in addition to other providers.  \n  \nIt then continues on to the **European Bottle and Container Room**, classified by country and with a chronology dating from the 16th to the 19th century.  \n  \nThe Polishing Nave leads to the **European Design Room** and the **Contemporary Glass Room**, with pieces created by designers and sculptors from Europe, Asia and The Americas.","city":"Real Sitio de San Ildefonso","address":"Pº Pocillo, 1 (40100)  \nReal Sitio de San Ildefonso (Segovia)","website":"http://www.realfabricadecristales.es","phone":"921010700","fax":"921010701","email":"museo@realfabricadecristales.es"},"15c3f796-e9e4-5984-a07b-97ea019d9da5":{"name":"Istanbul Archaeological Museums","description":"The name Istanbul Archaeological Museums denotes three museums under the same administration: the Archaeological Museum, the Ancient Orient Museum and the Tiled Kiosk Museum. The museum, affiliated to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, is located in Sultanahmet, on the Osman Hamdi Bey slope connecting Gülhane Park with the Topkapı Palace.  \n  \nIstanbul Archaeological Museums, displaying artifacts from civilisations of different historical periods, is one of the ten most important world-class museums designed and used as a museum building. It is also the first institution in Turkey arranged as a museum. Besides its spectacular collections, the architectural aspects of the buildings and beautiful gardens in which they are situated are of historical and natural importance.","city":"Istanbul","address":"Alemdar Caddesi,  \nOsman Hamdi Bey Yokuşu Sokak,  \n34122 Gülhane/Fatih, Istanbul  \nTurkey","website":"https://muze.gen.tr/muze-detay/arkeoloji","phone":"+90 212 520 77 40-41","fax":"+90 212 527 43 00","email":"info@istanbularkeoloji.gov.tr"},"18e20431-88ff-5070-a722-ea79a4e19880":{"name":"The David Collection","description":"The David Collection was founded by C. L. David (1878-1960), a prominent Danish attorney, who had begun to collect fine and decorative art in the 1910s. In this last field, he was aided by directors of the Danish Museum of Art and Design, who gradually also guided him to another area that had previously attracted little interest in Denmark: Islamic art. The Islamic part of David’s collection was, however, still rather modest at the time of his death in 1960.  \n  \nA bachelor and childless, C. L. David left his Copenhagen townhouse and works of art to a private foundation, along with financial means that made it possible to expand his collections. From the 1970s, a decision was consequently made to place increasing emphasis on expanding the Islamic holdings. The Islamic Collection has grown to become not only the museum’s most important, with over 4,000 objects, but also Scandinavia’s most significant in its field.  \n  \nThe Islamic Collection has been built up in keeping with the classical pattern for Western collections of this kind. It embodies works of art from Spain in the west to India in the east, but not works from Sub-Saharan Africa or Southeast Asia. Chronologically, the collection ranges from works dating to shortly after the advent of Islam to the middle of the 19th century. The collection encompasses all types of materials, but since the small rooms of 19th-century buildings like C. L. David’s townhouse, now the museum’s home, make it impossible to exhibit large objects, the museum consequently has only a modest collection of carpets, and they are either of small size or fragments of larger carpets.  \n  \nFollowing the museum’s refurbishment and reinstallation of its collections in 2009, the David Collection is now divided into three parts: European 18th-Century Art, Danish Early Modern Art, and Islamic Art. The collection of Islamic Art is presented in a new, contemporary setting, enhanced by digital and other modern techniques used to elucidate the objects on display. The backbone of the collection is 20 chronological/geographical sections, but the display also contains special galleries for light-sensitive materials as well as others dedicated to themes such as cultural history and artistic techniques.","city":"Copenhagen","address":"Kronprinsessegade, 30  \nCopenhagen  \nDenmark  \n  \nPostal address: Kronprinsessegade 30-32","website":"http://www.davidmus.dk/en","phone":"+45 33734949","fax":"+45 33734948","email":"museum@davidmus.dk"},"1b9d91b0-8fed-543e-bf14-fad63a660405":{"name":"Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts","description":"The Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts (JNGFA) is a leading contemporary art museum in Amman, established in 1980 by the Royal Society of Fine Arts. Its mission is to promote cultural diversity and highlight art from the Arab and developing worlds. Located in the historic Jabal al-Weibdeh district, the gallery spans two buildings connected by a beautiful sculpture park and serene Japanese garden.  \n  \nThe JNGFA houses an impressive permanent collection of over 3000 works, including paintings, sculptures, ceramics, graphic art, video art and installations. The collection features pieces by more than 800 artists from over 60 countries across Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and Australia. This vast and diverse compilation makes the gallery a significant global reference for contemporary art.  \n  \nIn addition to its permanent collection, the gallery regularly hosts a wide array of rotating exhibitions, artist residencies and community workshops. An on-site café offers visitors a spectacular view of the city and garden, while a gift shop sells unique artworks and handcrafted goods. In 2009, the JNGFA launched its innovative Mobile Museum, a van converted into a traveling gallery that brings art and workshops to rural villages across Jordan. This outreach program demonstrates the gallery’s commitment to expanding access to art beyond the capital and fostering cultural appreciation nationwide.","city":"Amman","address":"Jabal Al Weibdeh  \nHusni Fareez Street - Building no. 6  \nAmman 11191 Jordan","website":"https://nationalgallery.org","phone":"+962 6 4630128","email":"info@nationalgallery.org"},"1db535b6-0ad9-580c-b2d0-66605f9e9d44":{"name":"Further Associated Museums","description":"**Lisbon**  \nAncient Patriarch’s Palace, now Casa do Gaiato  \nArmy Museum  \nCalouste Gulbenkian Museum  \nChurch of St. Domingos de Benfica  \nLisbon’s Holy House of Mercy/Museum of São Roque  \nMacau Scientific and Cultural Centre Museum  \nMaritime Museum  \nNational Coach Museum  \nNational Library of Portugal  \nNational Museum of Ancient Art  \nPharmacy Museum  \n  \n**Alpiarça**  \nPatudos House, Alpiarça Museum  \n  \n**Alcobaça**  \nAlcobaça Monastery  \n  \n**Arouca**  \nSacred Art Museum of Arouca  \n  \n**Beja**  \nQueen Leonor Museum, Districtal Museum of Beja  \n  \n**Braga**  \nBraga Cathedral  \n  \n**Coimbra**  \nMachado de Castro National Museum  \nMuseum of Physics, University of Coimbra  \n  \n**Ílhavo**  \nVista Alegre Historic Museum  \n  \n**Oeiras**  \nOeiras Town Hall  \n  \n**Óbidos**  \nMunicipal Museum of Óbidos  \n  \n**Porto**  \nSoares dos Reis National Museum  \n  \n**Sardoal**  \nSardoal’s Holy House of Mercy  \n  \n**Viana do Castelo**  \nMuseum of Art and Archeology of Viana do Castelo  \n  \n**Vila Verde dos Francos**  \nOur Lady of the Visitation Convent  \n  \n**Vila Viçosa**  \nMuseum and Library of the House of Braganza  \n  \n**Viseu**  \nGrão Vasco Museum"},"29d8d41a-b480-56bf-8b3d-e906281be54d":{"name":"Dar Si Said","description":"Dar Si Said is a large palatial residence built in the second half of the 19th century by Si Said Ben Moussa, who served as minister of war under the regency of his brother Ba Hmad.  \n  \nA living testimony to Moroccan art and domestic architecture of the 19th century, the monument presents architecture of grandeur and opulence.  \n  \nMost of the collections in this regional museum come from Marrakech and the southern regions of Morocco, particularly Tensift, Sous, High Atlas, Anti-Atlas, Bani and Tafilalet. These are related sets of woodwork, jewellery, vessels and ceramics, weapons, carpets and weavings, and some archaeological pieces, including a marble vat from the early 11th century.  \n  \nSince August 2002, the Dar Si Saïd Museum has been hosted an exceptional thematic exhibition focusing solely on wood: Wood – Art and Uses. Chosen from museums throughout the kingdom, the Dar Si Said Museum displays the best examples of wood art from the 12th century to today. In addition to their historical value (Almohad, Wattassid and Saadi pieces), the collections inform us about artisanal techniques (sculptures, engravings, carpentry, filming and painting) and decoration such as *tasstir* (geometric woodwork), and *mouqarnas* (ornamental vaults).  \n  \nThe exhibition is divided into four main areas:  \n– Liturgical furniture (first section on the ground floor) includes a *minbar*, rosaries and Qur’anic tablets.  \n– Architectural wood (second section on the ground floor) is represented by traditional pieces and elements of rural architecture: lintels, corbels, pedestals and doors.  \n– Domestic furnishings (upstairs) includes a wide range of furniture, chests, bridal goods, mirrors and cooking tools.  \n– Diverse objects (also upstairs) related to the various uses of wood in different fields. These are exhibited in the four rooms of the grand riad (traditional musical instruments and tools, antique weapons and objects for personal grooming).","city":"Marrakech","address":"Derb El Bahia, Riad  \nEl-Zaïtoun El-Jadid  \nMarrakech, Morocco","phone":"+212 524 389 564"},"2b1c0dc0-0010-5164-be2c-49145ffe45bb":{"name":"Museum of Macedonia","description":"The National Museum of Macedonia is a complex museum institution comprising the museums of History, Ethnography and Art History. The museum collects, researches, maintains, exhibits and publishes on objects of movable heritage in these domains. It preserves evidence of the way of life and culture in these territories from the settling of Slavs in the 6th century AD till the end of World War II. The icon gallery exhibits a collection of medieval icons including several masterpieces of Byzantine art. The highlight of the permanent display is the icon of the Virgin of Pelagonia painted by Makarie in 1422. The ethnological exhibition takes pride in the magnificent collections of folk costumes, traditional jewellery, traditional architecture, intangible heritage and musical instruments, traditional weaving, crafts and traditional husbandry.  \n  \nThe museum also includes the Documentation Section, Conservation Lab and advanced Marketing Services. The Educational Section in the museum provides guided tours and carries out elaborate educational projects focusing on different target groups.  \n  \nExtensive publishing activities have been developed throughout the years. The Museum of Macedonia has issued numerous exhibition catalogues, periodicals, monographs, studies and other publications. These are available in the museum shop, which also organises production, sales and distribution of replicas of the most outstanding museum items. All the products in the shop can be purchased on the Internet and delivered to any address.","city":"Skopje","address":"Josif Mihajlovic, 7  \n1000 Skopje  \nRepublic of Macedonia (FYROM)","phone":"+389 2 3116 044","fax":"+389 2 3116 439","email":"musmk@t-home.mk"},"2d1fcee2-b5ee-57c9-9036-8389d4947106":{"name":"Budapest History Museum","description":"In 2007 the Budapest History Museum celebrated the 120th anniversary of its foundation and the 100th anniversary of its first exhibition. The state-sponsored Museum is located at 10 sites among which are three museums – the Royal Palace, the Kiscell Museum and the Aquincum Museum – there are also the Turkish Burial Chapel of Gül Baba, the Medieval Synagogue, Hercules Villa and the Roman Baths.  \n  \nThe archaeologists at the Budapest History Museum lead excavations within the the capital and its surroundings, collect objects, documents and other works of art, and carry out research into the history of Budapest from the Palaeolithic era to the present. The museum publishes periodicals and other papers on the history of the city, and its experts participate in international research projects.  \n  \nIncorporated into the former Royal Castle, the Medieval Palace of Buda, was the seat of the Hungarian kings. Here, Permanent exhibitions present a historical survey of Buda and Pest from the Palaeolithic era to the end of the Avar period, and the history of Buda and Pest from the 17th to the 20th century. Famous Gothic statues found in the late 1970s are on display as are relics from the Middle Ages.  \n  \nIn the Baroque Monastery and Church of Kiscell, a permanent exhibition elucidates the history of the capital from the 19th to the 20th century, together with a gallery showing a selection of artworks by 19th- and 20th- century artists.  \n  \nThe Aquincum archaeological site provides working evidence of recent excavations, while a permanent exhibition in the late 19th-century museum building displays objects excavated on this site dating from the Antique Roman period. A new exhibition hall is currently under construction in a former electricity station built in 1930; it will provide a new, extensive exhibition on the history of ancient times.  \n  \nTemporary exhibitions are held in rooms on the ground floor and in the first-floor exhibition hall.","city":"Budapest","address":"Budapest History Museum  \nBuda Castle Building \"E\"  \nSzent György tér 2  \nBudapest 1014  \nHungary","website":"http://www.btm.hu","phone":"+36 1 487 8800","fax":"+36 1 487 8872","email":"btm@mail.btm.hu"},"31de84d4-3de2-5ea1-b1d4-c8712cbcb314":{"name":"Museum of Arts and Crafts","description":"The Museum of Arts and Crafts was founded in 1880 by the Croatian Art Society.  \n  \nThe organisation of the Museum derived from the theoretical foundations of the Arts and Crafts movement. In keeping with the spirit of the times, the Arts and Crafts School was opened in 1882. The new headquarters building of the Museum and the School was completed in 1888, in the old Fair Square, today's Marshal Tito Square.  \n  \nThe basic collections of museum objects were created mostly from the donations of patriots. They were augmented through the purchase of several important collections from private collectors and also by programmed acquisitions, both within the country and from abroad.  \n  \nUp to World War One the Museum's scientific, professional and collection policy respected the conception laid down in the original motives underlying its establishment.  \n  \nBetween the two World Wars the concept of the Museum changed from being a collection of items to a cultural, historical and artistic institution.  \n  \nAfter World War Two the concept of modern museum communication became important, with many activities intended to involve the public.  \n  \nThe permanent display, opened in 1962, was of particular importance. Its backbone was the collection of furniture which, guided by the idea of a complex art museum that values equally all the fields of plastic arts design, was displayed in synthesis with other objects.  \n  \nThe present permanent display, created in 1995, has built on the positive experiences of earlier displays and has been broadened by new thematic units. With modern spatial differentiation and new multimedia contents the museum has become an experience which, by placing the visitor in an atmosphere of tangible historical heritage, essentially determines him or her as a cultural being.  \n  \nFor the Baroque period the Museum's holdings include many outstanding European artefacts, especially in the applied arts, including one of the largest collections of Baroque church art in Croatia.","city":"Zagreb","address":"Trg maršala Tita, 10  \n10000 Zagreb  \nCroatia","website":"http://www.muo.hr","phone":"+385 1 4882111","fax":"+385 1 4828088","email":"muo@muo.hr"},"325b7505-1527-5442-99ea-6a40f8c43d3f":{"name":"Islamic Museum at Al-Aqsa Mosque","description":"The museum was officially inaugurated in AH 1341 / AD 1922. In AH 1348 / AD 1929, it was transferred to its present site in the southwestern corner of the Haram al-Sharif. The museum is administered through the Department of Islamic Awqaf in Jerusalem, under the auspices of the Ministry of Jordanian Awqaf, Islamic Affairs and Holy Places.  \n  \nThe museum comprises three buildings with an exhibition space of over 1,000 square m. The oldest hall is from the AH 6th / AD 12th century and is a rare Crusader monument in the holy city. The second hall was an Ayyubid mosque (AH 7th / AD 13th century) historically known as al-Malikiya mosque or the Jami’a al-Mughariba. The third hall is known as the *al-Fakhriya* corner and its history goes back to the Mamluk period (AH 8th / AD 14th century).  \n  \nThe collection consists of artefacts and remains from the Islamic and non-Islamic epochs, representing various facets of Islamic civilisation ranging in geography, theme and period. Most of the artefacts represent the heritage of al-Haram al-Sharif, Jerusalem and Palestine at large including cities such as Hebron and Nablus.  \n  \nThe museum contains woodwork from different Islamic eras, the oldest dating to the Umayyad period. Metalwork in iron, copper and silver includes the iron enclosure from the Dome of the Rock, candlesticks, swords, daggers, daises, incense burners, coins, rings and memorial pieces. The collection includes marble and glazed tiles that panelled the the Dome of the Rock in the period of Sultan Sülayman the Magnificent (r. AH 926–74 / AD 1520–66) and his successors. There is a collection of earthenware, inscriptions on stone from different Islamic periods and its precursors, and columns and capitals from the Roman and Byzantine periods. There is a valuable collection of Qur’ans, the oldest from the AH 9th / AD 15 th century, and many Mamluk manuscripts whose themes deal with social and economic life in the holy city. The museum displays part of its textile collection, with costumes, grave coverings, pieces from the *kiswa* (covering) of the Ka’ba and pieces of carpet.","city":"Jerusalem","address":"Al-Haram al-Sharif  \nAmro  \nP.O. Box 75085  \nJerusalem","website":"http://www.facebook.com/islamic.museum1922/","phone":"02 6283286","fax":"02 6283286","email":"jerusalem.museum@gmail.com"},"33f89573-8b54-5c1a-86ba-1663e604740f":{"name":"Jordan Archaeological Museum","description":"The museum was founded in 1951 by the Department of Antiquities of Jordan on the Citadel of Amman on a hill called Jabal al-Qal’a. The building has a total measurement of 525 m2 on two floors. The ground floor is used for storage, and the first floor comprises the display area, which consists of three exhibition halls, and administrative offices.  \n  \nThe museum holds many artefacts found in various archaeological sites in Jordan representing the path of civilization in this area throughout its long history. The extensive collection is arranged chronologically by historical periods, from the Stone Ages to the Islamic periods.  \n  \nThe Islamic art collection is displayed in an exhibition hall in eleven showcases that consist of: pottery vessels from the Umayyad period to the Mamluk period; glazed vessels from the Mamluk period to the Ottoman period; steatite vessels from the Umayyad period; coins of all types and periods; metalwork and pottery vessels from the Umayyad to Mamluk periods; iron shields and swords from the Mamluk period; carved stones from the Umayyad period; four plaster replicas of architectural elements from Khirbat al-Mafjar Palace in Jericho (windows, lintel and a dome from the bath).  \n  \nLack of space prohibits the display of temporary exhibitions; however, the museum participates in many local and international exhibitions held in Jordan and abroad to show the history and archaeology of Jordan throughout the ages.  \n  \nThree curators sharing the responsibility of looking after the whole collection of the museum.","city":"Amman","address":"Citadel of Amman  \nP.O. Box 88  \nAmman, Jordan","phone":"+962 6 463 8795","fax":"+962 6 461 9768"},"36670bdc-150b-5f89-8906-79b8e4e2518d":{"name":"The David Collection","description":"The David Collection was founded by C. L. David (1878-1960), a prominent Danish attorney, who had begun to collect fine and decorative art in the 1910s. In this last field, he was aided by directors of the Danish Museum of Art and Design, who gradually also guided him to another area that had previously attracted little interest in Denmark: Islamic art. The Islamic part of David’s collection was, however, still rather modest at the time of his death in 1960.  \n  \nA bachelor and childless, C. L. David left his Copenhagen townhouse and works of art to a private foundation, along with financial means that made it possible to expand his collections. From the 1970s, a decision was consequently made to place increasing emphasis on expanding the Islamic holdings. The Islamic Collection has grown to become not only the museum’s most important, with over 4,000 objects, but also Scandinavia’s most significant in its field.  \n  \nThe Islamic Collection has been built up in keeping with the classical pattern for Western collections of this kind. It embodies works of art from Spain in the west to India in the east, but not works from Sub-Saharan Africa or Southeast Asia. Chronologically, the collection ranges from works dating to shortly after the advent of Islam to the middle of the 19th century. The collection encompasses all types of materials, but since the small rooms of 19th-century buildings like C. L. David’s townhouse, now the museum’s home, make it impossible to exhibit large objects, the museum consequently has only a modest collection of carpets, and they are either of small size or fragments of larger carpets.  \n  \nFollowing the museum’s refurbishment and reinstallation of its collections in 2009, the David Collection is now divided into three parts: European 18th-Century Art, Danish Early Modern Art, and Islamic Art. The collection of Islamic Art is presented in a new, contemporary setting, enhanced by digital and other modern techniques used to elucidate the objects on display. The backbone of the collection is 20 chronological/geographical sections, but the display also contains special galleries for light-sensitive materials as well as others dedicated to themes such as cultural history and artistic techniques.","city":"Copenhagen","address":"Kronprinsessegade, 30  \nCopenhagen  \nDenmark  \n  \nPostal address: Kronprinsessegade 30-32","website":"http://www.davidmus.dk/en","phone":"+45 33734949","fax":"+45 33734948","email":"museum@davidmus.dk"},"36dd7a00-ac4e-5317-9673-604bbb89af53":{"name":"Museum of Oriental Art (Fondazione Torino Musei)","description":"Turin’s new Museum of Oriental Art marks the culmination of various strands of interest in this field: the city boasts a long tradition of Oriental studies at the university – backed by the presence of a major centre for specialised research (CESMEO), while the past few years have seen a growing realisation of the need to create specific instruments to further our knowledge and understanding of distant cultural worlds. A museum that displays artistic creations from different cultures not only fulfils its own vocation as a repository for their conservation and exhibition, but above all prompts visitors to expand their own ethnocentric horizons.  \n  \nThese were some of the underlying grounds that led to the idea of creating a Museum of Oriental Art (MAO), in Turin based on the redefinition, renewal and expansion of the Oriental Section of the Civic Museum of Ancient Art.  \n  \nThe new museum, stands in one of the city’s most lively and fascinating areas, is housed in Palazzo Mazzonis, which was built between the 17th and the 18th century, known, which was formerly owned by the Marquis Solaro della Chiusa before being passed in 1870 to Chevalier Paolo Mazzonis, a textile magnate. After becoming the head office of the Manifattura Mazzonis, extensive improvements were carried out, especially on the first floor. The Mazzonis business failed in 1968 and the building remained unused. It was purchased by Turin City Council in 1980 and restored to house a section of the law court from 1982 to 2001 and finally, after appropriate restoration became site of a museum.  \n  \nThe Museum now contains some 1500 works from all over Asia. The rooms used for the permanent exhibition are divided into five separate “galleries”, which have fitted naturally into the structural layout of the building.  \n  \nThe MAO aspires to be as representative as possible in its choice of artworks from the various countries: its collections include the major cultural traditions from the continent, building on the important collections already owned by various institutions in Turin, whose directly inspired the proposed layout for the new museum which is divided into five clearly defined cultural areas: South Asia, China, Japan, Himalayan Countries and Islamic Countries.  \n  \nThe order in which the works are presented and the accompanying exhibit labels aim to highlight the points of contact and creative interactions between the different countries at the various historical periods, reintroducing a unified interpretation to the proposed route.  \n  \nThe MAO also acts as a cultural intermediary for visitors, who are generally unfamiliar with the concepts and cultural traditions to which exhibits refer. It aims to inspire visitors to explore new forms of thought, encouraging a fuller awareness of the value of all human knowledge.  \n  \nLastly, the MAO offers a wide range of public services: multimedia stations, online catalogue on the museum’s website, bookshop, possibility of using the art library and photographic archives of Fondazione Torino Musei, seminars, conferences, temporary exhibitions, and the educational rooms.","city":"Turin","address":"Via San Domenico11  \n10122 Turin","website":"http://www.maotorino.it","phone":"+39 01 14 43 69 27","fax":"+39 01 14 43 69 18","email":"mao@fondazionetorinomusei.it"},"3acfd33c-e4e0-5b37-a94a-380f38913853":{"name":"National Museum of Aleppo","description":"The earliest collection of art and archaeological artefacts for the National Museum of Aleppo dates back to 1928 and the museum was formally inaugurated in1931. Initially it was devoted to the pre-Greco-Roman era, with works no later than 333 BC, most of which were based on finds from Tell Halaf. It was decided to move the collection from its original location in an Ottoman period building, which had become overcrowded, into a modern purpose-built museum, begun in 1967 and formally opened in 1972. It includes the following wings:  \n  \nPre-historic art: dedicated to finds such as bones and pottery from the regions of Syria and the Euphrates Valley. Some items are about a million years old and the most recent piece dates to no later than 3,200 BC, after which writing was developed and art became historic.  \n  \nAncient Near Eastern art from Syria: one of the most important sections containing pieces from Tell Halaf, Mari, Ugarit, Ebla and other significant sites of early Near Eastern civilisations, all displayed in chronological order in three large wings.  \n  \nClassical art from the Greek, Roman and Byzantine periods: pottery, coins, a number of limestone funerary carvings from the ancient city of Mambij, and a collection of Roman and Byzantine glass flasks used for perfume, eye-kohl and drugs are some of this section's main features, all displayed chronologically.  \n  \nArab Islamic art: The method of display here is based on the item's function and medium, such as pottery, ceramics, metalwork and glass of the various Islamic dynasties as well as a collection of gold and silver coins of the Umayyad, Abbasid, Ayyubid and Mamluk periods. A stone cenotaph carved in floriated kufic calligraphy is a masterpiece of this hall. Medieval military equipment and an Ottoman wooden ceiling featured in a side chamber are also presented.  \n  \nModern art: paintings by Syrian artists, particularly Aleppines, expressed in various styles such as realism, cubism, expressionism.","city":"Aleppo","address":"Al-Ma'arri Street  \nAleppo, Syria","phone":"+963 21 2122400","fax":"+963 21 2122402"},"3b3a5b19-fbaa-51e8-9923-ce90d4287338":{"name":"National Museum of Bardo","description":"Founded on 7 May 1888, and considered one of the most important archaeological museums in the Maghreb, the Bardo National Museum is famous for its Roman mosaic panels. The museum resulted from the renovation of the palace of a *bey* (provincial governor) of the 19th century. It consists of a ground floor and two upper floors in which museum objects have been grouped in a chronological order that retraces the history of Tunisia.  \n  \nThe collection includes areas dedicated to:  \n  \n– Prehistory: the development of stone tools, ornaments, engraved stones, and especially to the rock and animal bone sanctuary known as “Hermaion of El-Guettar” that dates back to BC 40,000.  \n  \n– The Punic era, including ceramics, neo-Punic steles and jewellery, and pieces exhumed from several ancient sites in Tunisia.  \n  \n– The Roman era. In addition to ceramics and jewellery, this section is known for its significant collection of mosaics.  \n  \n– The Byzantine era. It contains sarcophagi, mosaics and terracottas whose designs display characteristics of African Christianity, and the large mosaic-covered Kelibia Baptistery.  \n  \n– Mediterranean treasures recovered from a shipwreck found off the coast of Mahdia that also contained bronze artefacts and Athenian marbles.  \n  \n– The Muslim period. One section, devoted to the Middle Ages, includes objects from the Sabra and Raqqada excavations: Fatimid glass, ivory and bronze figurines, ceramics with figurative designs, funeral steles, kufic inscriptions, parchment sheets from the Qur’an and Egyptian textiles. In the second section, popular arts and traditions are represented by weapons, musical instruments, copper objects, jewellery and ceremonial clothing from different regions of Tunisia.  \n  \nObjects are grouped by type and material within each section. The mosaics are presented in wall panels or form part of the palace floor. Smaller objects are displayed in glass cases. Statues are exhibited on their stands or in wall niches. These collections, which comprise the museum’s permanent exhibition, are made accessible to the general public through educational and cultural activities that take place in the museum.  \n  \n*On 18 March 2015, the museum was the site of an attack by an Islamist terrorist group that killed 22 people, most of them tourists.*","city":"Tunis","address":"Musée national du Bardo  \n2000 Le Bardo, Tunisia","website":"http://www.bardomuseum.tn/","phone":"+216 71 513650 – 71 513842","fax":"+216 71 514050"},"3b73a306-1129-5c8d-acba-8e34a39e132f":{"name":"The British Museum","description":"The British Museum was established by Act of Parliament in 1753, the first national public museum in the world. From the beginning it granted free admission to all “studious and curious persons”. The founding collection was that of Sir Hans Sloane, a wealthy physician and collector. The original British Museum comprised three departments: Printed Books; Manuscripts (including coins); and Natural and Artificial Productions, which included everything from sculpture to mineral samples and zoological specimens. In January 1759 the British Museum opened its doors to the public.  \n  \nAs a product of the Enlightenment, the museum's job was to be a storehouse of knowledge for the use and benefit of the public, advancing all fields of scholarship. The museum therefore aimed to collect all kinds of material; it remains one of the few places in the world in which it is possible to see the world under one roof. During the 19th century the museum acquired representative collections of Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Assyrian antiquities, as well as material from across the Islamic world.  \n  \nThe museum itself had to grow to offer space to display the growing collections. Between 1823 and 1847 the original building was replaced by four large wings built around a central courtyard. In 1854 construction began on the iconic Round Reading Room in the central courtyard. The natural history collections were given their own home in the new Museum of Natural History in 1881. By 1973 the British Library and British Museum were administratively separated, and in 1999 the new British Library building opened at St Pancras. The British Museum site was expanded and modernised. In 2000 the Great Court opened, envisioned as a sunny piazza at the centre of the building, with up-to-date facilities such as lecture theatres, an education centre and facilities for school children, as well as restaurants and shops. In 2014 the World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre opened to the public, offering state-of-the-art facilities to care for, manage, research and display the collections.","city":"London","address":"Great Russell St., London WC1B 3DG  \nUnited Kingdom","website":"http://www.britishmuseum.org","phone":"+44 20 7323 8000 / 8299","fax":"+44 20 7323 8616","email":"information@britishmuseum.org"},"3eb798ec-9543-5a63-ba38-c22270fbbe84":{"name":"University Museum of Islamic Art | The Bumiller Collection","description":"An exceptional collection of early Islamic bronzes is housed in a historical town-house in the heart of the old city of Bamberg. The objects mostly originate from the Persianate world what is today Iran, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. The collection is completed by a significant number of ceramics, glass and ivory objects as well as numismatics and manuscripts. The many-sided compilation includes nearly all objects of daily life. Writing equipment, cosmetic utensils, jugs, bowls, trays, fumigating vessels, oil lamps, jewellery, mirrors and the like give a fascinating insight into the life along the Silk Road in the Middle Ages. The exhibition shows the development of forms as well as the high standard of metallurgy mastered by medieval craftsmen in the region. The most ambitious décor and production techniques such as repoussé, punching, engraving and damascening that Islamic art put forth during the centuries are represented among the objects of the collection.  \n  \nIt is the Bumiller Art Foundation's concern to present most diverse products of Islamic metallurgy and to make them available for research and learning. The museum continuously serves as a venue for researchers, students and all those interested in Islamic art.","city":"Bamberg","address":"Austraße 29  \n96047 Bamberg  \nGermany","website":"http://www.the-bumiller-collection.com","phone":"+49 951 25954","email":"info@the-bumiller-collection.com"},"4116062f-9ddb-5ae6-bca9-7f7024adf5a8":{"name":"MATHAF","description":"Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art serves as the Arab world’s leading museum of modern and contemporary art. The museum offers a welcoming, vibrant environment that invites evolving discussions about modern art in the region and beyond. Home to a permanent collection that offers a distinctively unique comprehensive overview of modern and contemporary art from North Africa and the Middle East, Mathaf (“museum” in Arabic) also performs an important role as a centre for dialogue and scholarship and a resource for fostering creativity. Mathaf was opened by Qatar Museums (QM) in partnership with Qatar Foundation (QF) in 2010 and is located in Doha’s Education City.  \n  \nOver the past 10 years, Mathaf has made major contributions to research and debate around modern and contemporary art. The Museum evolved into a meeting point for art practitioners and scholars from across the region around education programmes, conferences and publications. In looking ahead to the next decade, Mathaf will continue to serve as a dynamic platform for artists, facilitating the creation and exploration of contemporary works that presents and examines their society and culture while further expanding its global reach through the large-scale digitisation of the museum, providing experience and knowledge of the Mathaf collection through the texts of the Mathaf Encyclopedia specialised in art history, criticism and thought.","city":"Doha","address":"Education City, Qatar Foundation, P.O. Box 2777, Doha, Qatar","website":"http:// mathaf.org.qa/en/","phone":"+974 4402 8830","email":"mathaf@qm.org.qa"},"42fb6391-e1f6-527a-85db-f9638b02d667":{"name":"Higher Institute for the Study of Contemporary History of Tunisia, University of Manouba","description":"The Higher Institute for the Study of Contemporary History of Tunisia (ISHCT) is a research centre for contemporary history in Tunisia. It houses a microfilm archive, audio-visual witness records, a collection of photographs and a library available on request to researchers, journalists, activists and students wishing to conduct in-depth research into the history of the colonisation and decolonisation of Tunisia. There are four research and study units (UER) bringing together historical researchers dedicated to using the different resources to improve understanding of this period of Tunisian history: UER Archives, UER Repositories of Memory and Museums, UER Oral History and UER History. Through the publication of a review (RAWAFID), conference papers, seminars and scientific meetings, memories from witnesses and document collections, ISHCT hopes to enhance the university library in line with advances in documentation and  methodology, thereby helping to stimulate research into this historical period by setting up scientific exchanges in Tunisia and abroad.","city":"Tunis","address":"Campus Universitaire de la Manouba,  \n2010 La Manouba  \nTunis  \nTunisia","phone":"+216 716 009 50","fax":"+216 716 002 77","email":"ishmn@ishmn.rnu.tn"},"4456ae4f-8839-5955-824e-44355a235903":{"name":"Further Associated Museums","description":"**Bologna**  \n  \nArt Collection of the Cassa di Risparmio, Bologna  \n[http://www.fondazionecarisbo.it/](http://www.fondazionecarisbo.it/)  \n  \nCivic Museum of the Risorgimento, Certosa of Bologna  \n[http://www.comune.bologna.it/museorisorgimento/](http://www.comune.bologna.it/museorisorgimento/)  \n[http://www.storiaememoriadibologna.it/certosa](http://www.storiaememoriadibologna.it/certosa)  \n  \nEcclesiastical Cultural Heritage Office of the Diocese of Bologna  \n  \nInternational Museum and Music Library  \n[http://www.museomusicabologna.it/](http://www.museomusicabologna.it/)  \n  \nMuseums at Palazzo Poggi, University of Bologna  \n[http://www.museopalazzopoggi.unibo.it/](http://www.museopalazzopoggi.unibo.it/)","city":"Bologna"},"48a95fcc-1e73-5c2a-b2b7-c1e8072a42e8":{"name":"MATHAF","description":"Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art serves as the Arab world’s leading museum of modern and contemporary art. The museum offers a welcoming, vibrant environment that invites evolving discussions about modern art in the region and beyond. Home to a permanent collection that offers a distinctively unique comprehensive overview of modern and contemporary art from North Africa and the Middle East, Mathaf (“museum” in Arabic) also performs an important role as a centre for dialogue and scholarship and a resource for fostering creativity. Mathaf was opened by Qatar Museums (QM) in partnership with Qatar Foundation (QF) in 2010 and is located in Doha’s Education City.  \n  \nOver the past 10 years, Mathaf has made major contributions to research and debate around modern and contemporary art. The Museum evolved into a meeting point for art practitioners and scholars from across the region around education programmes, conferences and publications. In looking ahead to the next decade, Mathaf will continue to serve as a dynamic platform for artists, facilitating the creation and exploration of contemporary works that presents and examines their society and culture while further expanding its global reach through the large-scale digitisation of the museum, providing experience and knowledge of the Mathaf collection through the texts of the Mathaf Encyclopedia specialised in art history, criticism and thought.","city":"Doha","address":"Education City, Qatar Foundation, P.O. Box 2777, Doha, Qatar","website":"http:// mathaf.org.qa/en/","phone":"+974 4402 8830","email":"mathaf@qm.org.qa"},"52bf77ae-f600-5ec2-b96d-71a387b2a8ca":{"name":"National Museum of Romanticism","description":"The Romantic Museum was created by the 2nd Marquis de la Vega Inclán (1858–1942) and donated to the state in 1921.  \n  \nThe building was built in 1776 by architect Manuel Rodriguez. The museum opened in 1924 with its founder’s artworks augmented by donations, such as paintings by Alenza donated by the Marquis de Cerralbo, and items belonging to several great writers.  \n  \nThe museum became a meeting place for intellectuals. During the Civil War, its importance was highlighted by the appointment of the iconic literary figure Rafael Alberti as director. Over the years, the collection has been enriched by purchases, donations and deposits.  \n  \nThe Romantic Museum closed in 2001 for complete renovation, reopening in 2009, with a new name, the Museum of Romanticism, more in line with its contents.","city":"Madrid","address":"Calle San Mateo, 13  \n28004 Madrid  \nSpain","website":"http://museoromanticismo.mcu.es","phone":"+34 914 481 045; 914 480 163","fax":"+34 914 456 940","email":"informacion.romanticismo@mecd.es"},"559ab197-7289-5af4-a295-1118bde9afce":{"name":"Museum of Islamic Art at the Pergamon Museum, State Museums","description":"**The Museum of Islamic Art is closed from October 2023 to March 2027 due to renovation and expansion works.**  \n  \nThe Museum of Islamic Art at the Pergamon Museum Berlin is the only institution of its kind in Germany, the oldest in the West and with its c. 93,000 pieces it houses one of the world’s finest collections of Islamic art from nearly all regions of Islamic rule.  \n  \nIts collections are especially rich in objects from an architectural context including the monumental façade of the caliphal palace of Mshatta (Jordan), dating from the mid-8th century. It is the largest artefact of Islamic Art in any museum worldwide. The unique dome from the Alhambra Palace in Granada (Spain) and 13th-century prayer niches from Kashan (Iran) and Konya (Turkey) are among the highlights. Most loved by our visitors is the finely painted wooden panelling of an upper-class house from Aleppo (Syria) from the early 17th century – it is the oldest surviving exemplar from the Ottoman World. Among the several archaeological groups from major excavations in the Islamic world the finds from the 9th-century caliphal capital of Samarra (Iraq) stand out. The collection also has a large number of important Ottoman and Persian carpets and bibliographical works of art, including numerous miniatures from the Mughal Empire.  \n  \nThe collection is displayed chronologically, allowing the visitor to follow the different stylistic phases of Islamic art and to develop a notion of the complex Islamic history and its artistic merits. Because of the large number of visitors (up to 900,000 yearly), only a small number of the most important works of art are on display. The museum will move inside Pergamon-Museum and will triple its exhibition space (3,000sq.m) by 2020. The layout and concept will discover new and innovative ways to present the cultural legacy.  \n  \nWith its rich art and archaeological collection, the Museum of Islamic Art is one of the leading research institutions dedicated to the material culture of the Middle East and neighbouring regions. Our many research, conservation and exhibition projects amount to a probing investigation of the urban legacies of the Near and Middle East. The institution houses important collections of archival photographs on Islamic art and architecture as well as an internationally outstanding library focused on art, architecture and archaeology in the world of Islam.","city":"Berlin","address":"Geschwister-Scholl-Straße, 6  \n10117 Berlin  \nGermany","website":"http://www.smb.museum/museen-und-einrichtungen/museum-fuer-islamische-kunst/home.html","phone":"+49 30 266 42 5201","fax":"+49 30 266 42 5202","email":"isl@smb.spk-berlin.de"},"6a05cd70-3f9b-5480-8f66-c26e05087784":{"name":"Museums' System of the Province of Bologna","description":"A museums’ network created by Provincia di Bologna, offering a virtual tour through over 100 museums within Bologna and the surrounding area from the Po Valley, and the verdant hills up to the Apennine Mountains. Many different collections have been gathered into one virtual museum, inviting visitors to discover a rich heritage along five thematic paths (Archaeology, Arts, History, Sciences and Identity), and four geographic routes (Bologna, Imola and its surrounds, the Plains, and the Apennine Mountains).  \n  \nOn the agenda, a rich menu to suit all tastes: an intriguing starter is offered by the Etruscan and Roman heritage, set against the vestiges of our prehistoric ancestors. The arts follow, including those of the Middle Ages, illuminated manuscripts; the genius of Vitale da Bologna and the world-renowned Bolognese painters, the Carracci to Giorgio Morandi; the tradition of excellence in music honoured by Mozart, Farinelli and Rossini. Then there is a focus on History with Bologna’s most ancient University and its undisputed supremacy in scientific investigation, encompassing Ulisse Aldrovandi’s herbarium as well as Galvani’s and Marconi’s experiments. Take in the captivating stories of Risorgimento (“Resurgence”) after almost four centuries of magnificent papal authority; the grand events of World War Two, for example the Autumn Campaign of 1944; the subsequent suffering of the people, the struggles and resistance. Last but not least, from those museums dedicated to rural and industrial archaeology, the identity and character of people as rooted in agriculture and handicrafts and the technological innovations of more recent times.","city":"Bologna","address":"Via de’ Castagnoli, 3  \n40126 Bologna  \nItaly","website":"http://www.cittametropolitana.bo.it/cultura/Engine/RAServePG.php/P/267811390414/T/Guida-Musei","phone":"+39 051 6598470","fax":"+39 051 6598884","email":"sistemamusei@provincia.bologna.it"},"6da08597-8da7-5d02-a911-09a5273c1265":{"name":"Further Associated Museums","description":"**Museum of National Antiquities (Historiska Museet)**  \nBox 5428  \nNarvavägen 13–17  \n114 84 Stockholm  \nTel.: +46 8 51955600  \n[www.historiska.se](http://www.historiska.se)  \n  \n**Museum of Ethnography (Etnografiska museet)**  \nDjurgårdsbrunnsvägen 34,  \nBox 27140,  \n102 52 Stockholm  \nTel.: +46 010 4561299  \n[www.varldskulturmuseerna.se/etnografiskamuseet/](http://www.varldskulturmuseerna.se/etnografiskamuseet/)  \n  \n**National Museum of Fine Arts (Nationalmuseum)**  \nBox 16176  \n103 24 Stockholm  \nAddress for visitors: Södra Blasieholmshamnen  \nTel.: +46 8 51954300  \n[www.nationalmuseum.se](http://www.nationalmuseum.se)  \n  \n**Royal Coin Cabinet (Kungl. Myntkabinettet)**  \nSlottsbacken 6,  \nBox 5428  \n114 84 Stockholm  \nTel.: +46 8 51955300  \n[www.myntkabinettet.se](http://www.myntkabinettet.se)  \n  \n**Royal Armoury (Livrustkammaren)**  \nSlottsbacken 3,  \n111 30 Stockholm  \nTel: +46 8 4023000  \n[www.lrk.lsh.se](http://www.lrk.lsh.se)  \n  \n**National Maritime Museum (Sjöhistoriska museet)**  \nBox 27131  \n102 52 Stockholm  \nAddress for visitors: Djurgårdsbrunnsvägen 24  \nTel.: +46 8 51954900  \n[www.sjohistoriska.se](http://www.sjohistoriska.se)  \n  \n**Army Museum (Armémuseum)**  \nBox 14095,  \n104 41 Stockholm  \nAddress for visitors: Riddargatan 13  \nTel.: +46 8 51956310  \n[www.sfhm.se](http://www.sfhm.se)  \n  \n**Swedish National Archives (Riksarkivet)**  \nFyrverkarbacken 13,  \nBox 12541,  \n102 29 Stockholm  \nTel: +46 010 4767000  \n[www.riksarkivet.se](http://www.riksarkivet.se)  \n  \n**Hallwyl Museum (Hallwylska Museet)**  \nHamngatan 4,  \n111 47 Stockholm  \nTel.: +46 8 4023099  \n[http://www.hallwylskamuseet.se](http://www.hallwylskamuseet.se)  \n  \n**Museum of Cultural History**  \nBox 1095  \n221 04 Lund  \nAddress for visitors:  \nTegnérsplatsen  \n223 50 Lund  \nTel.: +46 046 350400  \n[www.kulturen.com](http://www.kulturen.com)  \n  \n**Uppsala University Library**  \nBox 510,  \n751 20 Uppsala  \nAddress for visitors: Carolina Rediviva, Dag Hammarskjölds väg 1  \nTel.: +46 18 4713900  \n[www.ub.uu.se](http://www.ub.uu.se)"},"6dad7774-d6a4-55b6-8d2c-c7751bdd6b44":{"name":"Civic Museums of Ancient Art","description":"Three museums make up the Civic Museums of Ancient Art (Musei Civici d’Arte Antica) in Bologna. The Collezioni Comunali d’Arte (Municipal Art Collections) were instituted in 1936 in the Ancien Régime apartments of the papal legate in the City Hall. Housed here are works from the 13th to the 20th century. The collection – paintings, sculptures, furniture, furnishings and decorative objects – is the sum of 19th- and 20th-century bequests along with works that originally belonged to former ruling bodies of the city, including mythological and allegorical paintings (1713–1723) by Donato Creti. Works of the Emilian school (medieval painted and carved crosses; paintings by Vitale da Bologna, Jacopo di Paolo, Francia, Aspertini, Passerotti, the Carracci, Tiarini, Cagnacci, Crespi, Gandolfi and Palagi) are hung next to others by masters from all over Italy and abroad (Bonfigli, Moretti, Pirez, Signorelli, Bertoja, Gentileschi, Nuvolone, Hayez and Brullov). The rooms communicate the atmosphere of different artistic periods in Bolognese art.  \n  \nSince 1985, the Medieval Museum has been housed in the Renaissance Palazzo Ghisilardi. The items here come from several historical collections: the Baroque Wunderkammer of the Marquis Cospi; Luigi Ferdinando Marsili’s collection, one of the most important in Enlightenment Europe; collections of 19th-century artists (Baruzzi and Palagi). The Medieval sculpture department is at the heart the Museum’s identity. Among the masterpieces exhibited are examples of high Medieval craftsmanship, a cope embroidered in opus anglicanum with stories of the Life of Christ, a statue of Pope Boniface VIII in gilded copper, Gothic French ivories, important Renaissance and post-Renaissance items (weapons, armoury and glass) and Bolognese illuminated manuscripts. Renaissance and Baroque bronze sculptures include Giambologna’s model for the Neptune fountain, Algardi’s Saint Michael Archangel and Bernini’s bust of Pope Gregory XV Ludovisi.  \n  \nThe Davia Bargellini Museum was inaugurated in 1924 in the building of the same name. It includes a picture gallery (Vitale da Bologna, Michele di Matteo, Jacopo di Paolo, Prospero and Lavinia Fontana, Passerotti, Franceschini, Giuseppe Maria and Luigi Crespi) and a rich selection of objects of applied art recreating an authentic 18th-century Bolognese setting. Some items are particularly rare, such as the marionette theatre and a miniature of an 18th-century private house. Bolognese Baroque sculpture is represented by a wide display of works, mainly terracotta, dating from the 16th to the 20th centuries.","city":"Bologna","address":"Via Manzoni, 4  \n40121 Bologna  \nItaly","website":"http://www.museibologna.it/arteantica","phone":"+39 051 2193916","fax":"+39 051 232312","email":"museiarteantica@comune.bologna.it"},"7712e497-33e4-5529-91c3-47abff00f87c":{"name":"National Archaeological Museum","description":"The National Archaeological Museum (Museo Arqueológico Nacional or MAN) is Spain’s most important museum of history. It preserves, researches and presents its collections of archaeology, art and history to the public. In doing so, the museum aspires to offer all visitors an accurate, attractive, interesting and critical interpretation of the meaning of objects from the past, in the hopes that a deeper knowledge of history will help them to better analyse and understand the reality of today. Given the relevance and scope of its collections, the National Archaeological Museum is comparable in its specialty to prominent Spanish museums (Prado, Thyssen, Reina Sofía or the Royal Collections Gallery), by showing our country’s diversity and affluence in terms of cultural history.  \n  \nThe museum occupies a monumental building in the heart of the Salamanca quarter, one of Madrid’s busiest shopping and leisure districts, and is strategically positioned along the Recoletos-Prado artery, which boasts the highest concentration of art and culture institutions in the city. The museum’s magnificent building in the heart of Madrid offers a historical infrastructure — complete with building, garden and fence —which is fully renovated and accessible.  \n  \nThe MAN has grown and evolved constantly since it was created in 1867, almost 160 years ago, and is still changing today to meet the needs of the 21st century. After a complete overhaul between 2008 and 2014, the institution reopened in April 2014 with a brand-new look and layout, claiming its place among Europe’s most modern museums. The renovated building is divided into six floors and has a total surface area of nearly 30,000 m2, of which 18,304 m2 are reserved for public use (the permanent exhibition alone occupies 9,239 m2). The museum has also been fitted out with different service areas, including a spacious vestibule, café, shop and activity rooms.  \n  \nThe MAN’s extraordinary collection, which includes a large number of priceless historical and cultural artefacts, comprises over one million archaeological, historical and artistic objects.  \n  \nIts holdings are vast and varied: Palaeolithic bifaces, practically the only tool in existence for millennia; delicate ivory carvings that combine aesthetic appeal with practical functionality; prehistoric engravings found in the Cave of El Castillo, evidence of humanity’s earliest artistic and symbolic expressions; the abstract aesthetics of the “Idol of Extremadura”; the classical, timeless beauty of the Lady of Elche; ancient Roman sculptures; the extraordinary treasure of Guarrazar; the Romanesque crucifix of Ferdinand and Sancha; the lovely equestrian figure of Hector by Il Filarete; and the ornamental paintings of Luis Paret on a Baroque armchair are just some of the treasures it houses.  \n  \nThe Museum's Islamic Art collection largely comes from the different historical periods of Al-Andalus, the name that the Muslims gave to the territory they conquered in the Iberian Peninsula. The aesthetic quality achieved by Andalusian art is demonstrated in the capitals, arches, marble panels and alabaster and plaster decorations of the period, especially from the Caliphate of Córdoba. Added to this is the museum's collection of decorative and highly refined objects made in the Andalusian palace workshops, such as metal, ivory and glazed ceramics. Likewise, a large collection of objects is preserved that show the symbiosis of Hispano-Islamic and Christian forms in the Iberian Peninsula, as the dome of the Torrijos Palace.","city":"Madrid","address":"Serrano, 13  \n28001  \nMadrid, Spain","website":"http://www.man.es/","phone":"+34 91 577 79 12","fax":"+34 91 432 68 40","email":"secretaria.man@mecd.es"},"89f613d2-8723-5be8-8e46-487f9dae46f4":{"name":"Swiss National Museum","description":"Three museums – the National Museum Zurich, the Château de Prangins and the Forum of Swiss History Schwyz – as well as the collections centre in Affoltern am Albis – are united under the umbrella of the Swiss National Museum (SNM). The permanent exhibitions at the museums present Swiss history from its beginnings to the present, and give an insight into Swiss identities and the rich tapestry of our country’s history and culture. Temporary exhibitions on current topics add to the experience.","city":"Zurich","address":"Swiss National Museum  \nMuseumstrasse, 2  \nP.O. Box 8021  \nZurich  \nSwitzerland","website":"http://www.nationalmuseum.ch","phone":"+41 44 218 65 11","fax":"+41 44 211 29 49","email":"info@nationalmuseum.ch"},"8a41ae85-1217-5a1f-a8f2-68da1d74234d":{"name":"National Museum of Antiquities and Islamic Art","description":"The National Museum of Antiquities and Islamic Art is the oldest museum in Algeria and Africa. The collection was set up in 1835, five years after the French occupation, by the then Governor General Marshal Clauzel who appointed Adrien Berbrugger as its first curator. From 1838 onward, the early museum hosted pieces, of Algerian provenance, from Antiquity up until the Ottoman periods. Between 1838 and 1896, this early museum occupied different places of the lower Casbah, before settling in a beautiful park located on the heights of Mustapha Pasha - now known as the Park of Liberty - where it was officially inaugurated in 1897.  \n  \nSince then these two divisions of the museum’s collection, Antiquity and Islamic, have continued to grow. This collection makes it possible to exhibit the history of Algeria from its Libyan-Punic era through to the 20th century. The objects are displayed in two separate buildings: one houses the pre-Islamic collection whilst the other houses the collection of Islamic art, which was inaugurated in May 2003.  \n  \nThe ancient collection is very rich and includes collections of mosaics, sculptures, Libyan and Latin inscriptions, coins and medals, bronze, ivory, bone, ceramics and wooden objects.  \n  \nThe Islamic section was formed from the first collection of 1854, which included Algerian and Oriental objects. It has gradually been enriched by pieces uncovered through archaeological excavations carried throughout the country. This wide-ranging collection includes sculpted plasterboard from 10th century Sedrata, marble or plaster sculptures of the 11th century Qal'a of Beni Hammad as well as the chairs of the 11th century Almoravid mosques in Algiers and the 12th century mosque of Nedroma.  \n  \nThe furniture arts of North Africa is also widely represented in this museum. Shop windows contain Ottoman-era embroidery, clothing, ceramics, weapons, jewellery, chiselled brass and worked repoussé that comes from the urban centres as well as rural areas. Manuscripts and miniatures complete the collection.  \n  \nThe museum’s numismatic collection is exhibited in a reading room that was inaugurated in May 2006.","city":"Algiers","address":"177, bd Krim-Belkacem, Parc de la Liberté  \nAlgiers, Algeria","website":"https://m-culture.gov.dz/index.php/fr/mus%C3%A9es","phone":"+213 0 21 68 11 29","fax":"+213 0 21 68 12 56","email":"museemna@musee-antiquites.art.dz"},"95483cda-d367-5af3-ad0e-2779b97409cb":{"name":"Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah","description":"Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah (DAI) is a cultural organisation based on a Kuwaiti private art collection owned by Sheikh Nasser Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah, founder of The al-Sabah Collection and his wife, DAI director general and co-founder Sheikha Hussah Sabah al-Salem al-Sabah.  \n  \nEstablished in 1983, DAI was created to manage The al-Sabah Collection, an esteemed collection of Islamic art on permanent loan to the State of Kuwait under the auspices of the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters. The collection preserves and presents all aspects of Islamic art and includes more than 20,000 pieces extending from Spain to China, from the 1st – 13th centuries AH/7th – 19th centuries AD.  \n  \nSince its inception, DAI has grown from a single focus organisation to an internationally recognised cultural organisation. DAI’s main activities include:  \n  \n• An annual Cultural Season (lectures, music concerts, forum, workshops, children’s programme, quarterly magazine/journal, quarterly newsletter, cultural expeditions)  \n• Travelling exhibitions and loans  \n• Conservation training programmes  \n• Research and excavation projects  \n  \nWith a highly specialised library, DAI is also involved in the publication of scholarly books on Islamic art and culture.  \n  \nWhile the rehabilitation project of DAI’s buildings at the Kuwait National Museum is underway, the Amricani Cultural Centre is the temporary home of DAI. The Amricani Cultural Centre is the ground for most of the organization’s activities and events, including local temporary exhibitions and DAI’s cultural season events.","city":"Kuwait City","address":"Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah  \nAmricani Cultural Centre  \nP.O. BOX: 23996 Safat 13100 Kuwait","website":"https://daralatharalislamiyyah.com/en/home-page-en/","phone":"+965 2240 0992","fax":"+965 2246 7770","email":"info@darmuseumkw.org"},"a05b0a22-d90a-5e08-85e3-53fd66868e26":{"name":"Museum of Islamic Art","description":"The Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) is a pioneering project spotlighting the cultural vision of the State of Qatar, both in the region and across the world. Under the guiding vision of His Excellency, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the project is the cornerstone for the State of Qatar in its establishment as a global capital of culture.  \n  \nThe 35,500 sq. m museum was designed by I.M. Pei, taking inspiration from the 13th-century *sabil* (ablutions fountain) of the 9th-century Mosque of Ahmad ibn Tulun in Cairo. The museum comprises a five-level main building and a two-storey Education Wing, connected across a fountain courtyard. The main building’s angular planes form ascending pinnacles, rising around an atrium. Inside, a dome is revealed, concealed from outside view by the walls of a central tower. A window on the building’s north side rises to a height of 54 m., providing dramatic views from all five floors. The ground floor is home to a temporary gallery space for touring international exhibitions and the café, giftshop and Information Services. The museum’s permanent exhibition is installed on two floors of galleries designed by the French firm Jean-Michel Wilmotte & Associés. The fourth floor contains temporary galleries showcasing the research topics of museum staff, using items either not seen in the permanent galleries or with new information to see them in a new way.  \n  \n**Overview of the collections**  \nThe MIA houses artefacts highlighting the creative achievements of the Islamic world's richest cultures and spanning nearly a thousand years. The collection represents the full scope of Islamic art in all media, from manuscripts to ceramics, metalwork, glass, stone, ivory, textiles, wood, precious stones and jewellery.  \n  \nThe permanent exhibition of *c.* 850 artefacts offers an insight into the diverse art of the Islamic world. Two floors are dedicated to the exploration of historical eras and interpretation of the themes of Islamic art and material culture, from the 8th century to the cusp of the 19th century.  \n  \nThe MIA also holds thousands more objects, some destined to be seen in future displays and others providing a resource for education and research.  \n  \nHighlights of the collection include: a distinguished group of carpets and textiles, a range of Ayyubid and Mamluk metalwork and enamelled glass, an outstanding strength in early ceramics, a comprehensive collection of astrolabes and scientific instruments, masterpieces of Mughal jewellery and rare manuscripts and miniatures.  \n  \n**The Department of Education and Information**  \nThe department’s main goal is to create materials, programmes and workshops that will engage the public, allowing them to explore the world through Islamic art, promoting a culture of learning within an atmosphere of knowledge and entertainment.  \n  \n**The Curatorial Department**  \nThe department of internationally trained curators is committed to studying, documenting and publicising the MIA’s collection and establishing the MIA as a world-class centre of scholarly research.  \n  \n**The Conservation Department**  \nSet to become a leading regional service centre for museums, the department is committed to restoring, preserving and caring for the collection through the application of innovative scientific methods.  \n  \n**International partnerships**  \nThe MIA is committed to building a network of partnerships around the world and offering institutes and museums collective access to information, research and images. It has strong ties with many world-class museums and collections, including the Louvre, France, the British Museum, UK, the Victoria & Albert Museum, UK, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, USA, the Museum für Islamische Kunst, Germany, the Al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait, the Gulbenkian, Portugal, and the National Museum of Antiquities and Islamic Art, Algeria.","city":"Doha","address":"Museum of Islamic Art roundabout, the Corniche  \nPostal Address: P.O. Box 2777  \nDoha, Qatar","website":"http://mia.org.qa/","phone":"+974 4422 4444","fax":"+974 4422 4447","email":"infomia@qma.org.qa; educationmia@qma.org.qa; librarymia@qma.org.qa"},"a3753de5-842a-5f0b-a8c7-50bb2e312ce6":{"name":"Kunsthistorisches Museum","description":"The Kunsthistorisches Museum (KHM) in Vienna is one of the foremost museums in the world, with rich holdings comprising artworks from seven millennia – from Ancient Egypt to the late 18th century. The collections of Renaissance and Baroque art are of particular importance.  \n  \nThe KHM’s extensive holdings are on show at different locations: the main building on Ringstrasse houses the Picture Gallery, the Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities, the Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection, the Coin Collection and the Kunstkammer.  \n  \nOther collections are housed in the Neue Burg (the Collection of Historical Musical Instruments, the Collection of Arms and Armour, and the Ephesus Museum), in Hofburg Palace (the Treasury) and in Schönbrunn Palace (the Collection of Historical Carriages).  \n  \nThe collections on show at Ambras Palace are also part of the holdings of the KHM.  \n  \nSince January 2001, the Museum of Ethnology on Heldenplatz and the Austrian Theatre Museum on Lobkowitz Square have been incorporated into the KHM.","city":"Vienna","address":"Burgring, 5  \n1010 Wien  \nAustria","website":"http://www.khm.at/","phone":"+43 1 525 24-0","email":"info@khm.at"},"af01a84d-b174-5718-b9a7-b741c8957086":{"name":"The British Museum","description":"The British Museum was established by Act of Parliament in 1753, the first national public museum in the world. From the beginning it granted free admission to all “studious and curious persons”. The founding collection was that of Sir Hans Sloane, a wealthy physician and collector. The original British Museum comprised three departments: Printed Books; Manuscripts (including coins); and Natural and Artificial Productions, which included everything from sculpture to mineral samples and zoological specimens. In January 1759 the British Museum opened its doors to the public.  \n  \nAs a product of the Enlightenment, the museum's job was to be a storehouse of knowledge for the use and benefit of the public, advancing all fields of scholarship. The museum therefore aimed to collect all kinds of material; it remains one of the few places in the world in which it is possible to see the world under one roof. During the 19th century the museum acquired representative collections of Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Assyrian antiquities, as well as material from across the Islamic world.  \n  \nThe museum itself had to grow to offer space to display the growing collections. Between 1823 and 1847 the original building was replaced by four large wings built around a central courtyard. In 1854 construction began on the iconic Round Reading Room in the central courtyard. The natural history collections were given their own home in the new Museum of Natural History in 1881. By 1973 the British Library and British Museum were administratively separated, and in 1999 the new British Library building opened at St Pancras. The British Museum site was expanded and modernised. In 2000 the Great Court opened, envisioned as a sunny piazza at the centre of the building, with up-to-date facilities such as lecture theatres, an education centre and facilities for school children, as well as restaurants and shops. In 2014 the World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre opened to the public, offering state-of-the-art facilities to care for, manage, research and display the collections.","city":"London","address":"Great Russell St.,  \nLondon WC1B 3DG  \nUnited Kingdom","website":"http://www.britishmuseum.org","phone":"+44 20 7323 8000 / 8299","fax":"+44 20 7323 8616","email":"information@britishmuseum.org"},"b132410f-9286-5691-bb2d-ecf8df460bd3":{"name":"Victoria and Albert Museum","description":"The Victoria and Albert (V&A) is the world’s leading museum of art and design, with collections unrivalled in their scope and diversity. When the museum opened to the public in 1852, its mission was to reform design by making works of art available to all, improving the public’s understanding of the subject and providing inspiration for designers and manufacturers. Today, the V&A’s collections span over 5,000 years of human creativity in virtually every medium and from many parts of the world.  \n  \nThe V&A comprises a family of sites, including the V&A in South Kensington, Young V&A located in Bethnal Green, V&A Dundee in Scotland, the V&A Wedgwood Collection housed in Barlaston, Stoke-on-Trent, V&A Gallery at Design Society in Shekou, China, and opening in 2024/25 will be V&A East located within the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford. Across these sites the museum showcases its collections to a wide range of audiences and aims to champion design and creativity in all its forms.  \n  \nThe V&A holds the UK’s national collection of glass, and covers over 3,500 years of glassmaking. There is a small collection of very early glass from Ancient Egypt through to Ancient Rome acquired in the early years of the museum, but the core of the collection is particularly rich in vessel and art glass from the Middle Ages to the contemporary period. The museum holds examples of work from the Italian Renaissance, the Middle-East, 17th-20th century Britain and Europe, and contemporary art glass from around the world. The V&A also holds an important collection of stained glass from the medieval period onwards.","city":"London","address":"Cromwell Road  \nSouth Kensington  \nSW7 2RL  \nLondon  \nUnited Kingdom","website":"http://www.vam.ac.uk","phone":"+44 207 9422000","fax":"+44 207 9422335"},"b3d5e8a5-90ae-5442-bf21-9067f8e77ed1":{"name":"Cerralbo Museum","description":"Cerralbo Palace, now Museum, was built between 1884 and 1892 in a historicist style with classical echoes, also shared by its garden. It contains the collections of Enrique de Aguilera y Gamboa, 17th Marquis of Cerralbo (1845–1922), a politician, historian, collector and pioneer of archaeology in Spain. After his death, he bequeathed his collection to the Spanish state. Paintings, furniture, clocks, porcelain, lamps, sculptures, arms and armour, textiles, books, coins and archaeological objects are displayed in the various rooms where the first inhabitants of the palace led their daily lives. Cerralbo Museum also has the distinction of being one of the few buildings in Madrid that shows the original decorative ambience of an aristocratic residence, thoroughly restored in the first decade of the 21st century.","city":"Madrid","address":"C / Ventura Rodríguez, 17  \n28008 Madrid  \nSpain","website":"http://museocerralbo.mcu.es/","phone":"+34 915 47 36 46 / 47","fax":"+34 915 59 11 71","email":"museo.cerralbo@mecd.es"},"ba8c2613-78d1-53bb-a8ff-a6dc36582fe1":{"name":"Regional Museum","description":"The Regional Museum in Olomouc dates back to 1883, when the Patriotic Museum Society established it as the first regional Czech museum in Moravia. Today the museum holds over one million items comprising geological, mineralogical, Palaeontological, zoological, entomological, archaeological, numismatic, ethnographical, cartographic, military, medical-pharmaceutical, musical, and decorative arts collections. More recently the collections have grown to include artefacts associated with the development of industry, transport, business and handcrafts.  \n  \nThe architectonic development of the region is shown in a large collection of topographical prints, drawings and paintings.  \n  \nThe museum’s photographic archive contains around 300,000 negatives. In the lapidarium, over 400 unique items document the evolution of the building from the Roman style to the 19th century. The library, with more than 70,000 volumes, also has a unique collection of 126 manuscripts and 2,000 ancient prints.  \n  \nAlongside the Museum’s permanent exhibition – From Astronomical Clock to Clocks –the Northern Hall and Large Hall host on average 20 temporary exhibitions annually.  \n  \nThe main purpose of the permanent exhibition is to illustrate the technical progress and development of styles associated with time-measuring instruments. There are Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Classical clocks, as well as documentation relating to the beginning of mass-production of clocks. A collection of well-preserved parts of Olomouc-produced astronomical clocks from the 16th century up to 1926, are also on display including machine mechanisms, clock faces, figural sculptures and remains of wood-carving and painted decoration. The Museum belongs within a selective group of institutions in Europe with similar collections.  \n  \nThe Regional Museum in Olomouc‘s permanent collection is housed in the former convent of the order of St. Clare, founded on the site in the 13th century, and rebuilt in the 18th century in the Late-Baroque style. The university library was located in the convent church. The convent was dissolved in 1781 by the emperor Joseph II. The buildings were used as barracks up until 1951 when the Regional Museum in Olomouc took them over.","city":"Olomouc","address":"Náměstí Republiky 5  \n771 73 Olomouc  \nCzech Republic","website":"http://www.vmo.cz","phone":"+420 585 515 111","fax":"+420 585 222 743","email":"vmo@vmo.cz"},"bbd3d5ff-f06e-515d-b3ae-1c0c2aab189d":{"name":"Further Associated Museums","description":"**Budapest**  \nHungarian National Museum  \nMuseum of Fine Arts  \n  \n**Eger**  \nDobó István Castle Museum  \n  \n**Esztergom**  \nChristian Museum of Esztergom  \n  \n**Nyíregyháza**  \nGreek Catholic Ecclesiastical Collection  \n  \n**Pannonhalma**  \nBenedictine Abbey, Picture Gallery  \n  \n**Sopron**  \nSopron Museum  \n  \n**Tata**  \nKuny Domokos Museum  \n  \n**Vác**  \nBishop’s Palace (Museum of the Diocese)"},"c0c2fa4f-c38c-578e-8cc1-4703cc60b8a9":{"name":"Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts","description":"The Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts was the first museum in Turkey to bring together works of Islamic art. It was founded in 1914 as the Museum of Islamic Foundations and housed in the Imaret building of the Süleymaniye Complex, built by the great Turkish architect Sinan in the 16th century. The museum was renamed the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts after the declaration of the republic and moved to its present location in the 16th-century Ibrahim Paşa Palace in 1983.  \n  \nThe core collection of the museum comprises Islamic artworks collected from across the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of the 20th century. These works include carpets, manuscripts, metalwork, glassware, ceramics, woodwork and ethnographic materials. The collection represents an extensive period ranging from the rise of Islam to the 20th century and the vast geographical area ruled by the Ottoman Empire.  \n  \nThe carpets, numbering some 1,700, in their quality and variety constitute one of the most important collections of carpets in the world, so that the museum is sometimes thought of as a carpet museum. But the museum also has other outstanding collections: the manuscripts collection represents all the ruling Islamic states from the AH 1st / AD 7th century to the 20th century across a wide geographical area. The metalwork collection allows visitors to follow the development of Turkish metalwork in Anatolia and the rich collection of woodwork ranges from the AH 3rd / AD 9th century to the Ottoman period. The glassware and pottery collections include artefacts recovered during excavations at renowned Abbasid centres such as Samarra and Keshan (Iran) and Raqqa (Syria) as well as artefacts from the Anatolian Turkish period. The stonework, most bearing inscriptions, includes examples from the Umayyad, Abbasid, Mamluk, Seljuq and Ottoman periods. The ethnographic department is the newest section.  \n  \nThe museum also organises, hosts and participates in temporary national and international exhibitions.  \n  \nAfter the grand restoration works The Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts re-opened in April 2014, exactly 100 years after its foundation, with special exhibitions to celebrate its hundredth anniversary.","city":"İstanbul","address":"İbrahim Paşa Sarayı Atmeydanı Sok. No: 46  \nSultanahmet, Istanbul, Turkey","website":"https://muze.gen.tr/muze-detay/tiem","phone":"+90 212 518 18 05 / 06","fax":"+90 212 518 18 07","email":"tiem@tiem.gov.tr"},"c2663ec9-f434-5a4e-a8d3-fb95be4adb76":{"name":"MIBACT | National Gallery of Modern Art (GNAM)","description":"The gallery, founded in 1881, is housed in a building designed by Bazzani to house the exhibition (1911) celebrating the 50th anniversary of Italian unification. The collection, representing regional and foreign schools acquired at national exhibitions and the Venice Biennale, represented the best of 19th-century Italian art. It was expanded by donations and bequests (e.g. of Celentano and Balla) and acquisitions of Macchiaoli, Divisionists, Modigliani, Burri and Fontana. Under the direction of Venturi, Bucarelli and Argan it acquired international prestige thanks to a broader museography, with Picasso, Mondrian and Pollock exhibitions.  \n  \nAlthough the advent of the Ministry of Culture deprived it of independence, acqusitions of the Transavanguardia movement and the promotion of young artists made it a museum of the 19th and 20th centuries.","city":"Rome","address":"Viale delle Belle Arti, 131  \n00196 Roma  \nItaly  \nEntrance for special needs: Via Gramsci, 71","website":"www.gnam.beniculturali.it/","phone":"+39 06 322 98","fax":"+39 06 322 15 79","email":"s-gnam@beniculturali.it"},"ca0e325c-0944-502c-ac42-7a2a27464669":{"name":"Museum of the Arab World Institute","description":"The 'institut du monde arabe' (Museum of the Arab world) in Paris houses a museum, labeled as a \"Musée de France,\" dedicated to the discovery and promotion of Arab culture. Located in the heart of the French capital, it holds a rich and diverse collection of artworks, historical objects, and cultural artifacts representing the various facets of the Arab world beyond stereotypes, showcasing its full diversity of cultures, ethnicities, languages, and faiths, from its origins to the present day. The museum's permanent and temporary exhibitions explore various themes covering a historical range from ancient Mediterranean civilizations to contemporary times, thanks to a rich collection of Islamic art and ethnographic objects as well as a collection of modern and contemporary artworks. The remarkable architecture of the building, designed by Jean Nouvel, blends tradition and modernity, offering visitors an immersive and captivating experience. The museum also offers educational activities, lectures, film screenings, and special events throughout the year, aiming to raise awareness about the richness and diversity of Arab culture. With its commitment to promoting intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding, the Institut du monde arabe's museum is a must-visit destination for art enthusiasts and curious individuals eager to explore the treasures of Arab heritage.","city":"Paris","address":"1, rue des Fossés Saint-Bernard  \nPlace Mohammed V  \n75 236 Paris Cédex 5","website":"https://www.imarabe.org/fr","phone":"+33 (0)1 40 51 38 38"},"cc176d16-7f00-5907-8a82-b1f3d06b7d4d":{"name":"Further Associated Museums","description":"**Zagreb**  \nCity Museum  \nCroatian History Museum  \nDiocese Museum of the Zagreb Archdiocese  \nMetropolitan Library, Valvasor Collection of prints and drawings  \nStrossmayer Gallery of Old Masters  \nZagreb Cathedral Treasury  \n  \n**Dubrovnik**  \nDubrovnik Cultural History Museum  \nMuseum of Icons of the Serbian Orthodox Church Community  \n  \n**Ilok**  \nCity Museum  \n  \n**Klanjec**  \nFranciscan Monastery  \n  \n**Osijek**  \nGallery of Fine Arts  \n  \n**Požega**  \nDiocese Museum of the Požega Diocese  \n  \n**Trakošćan**  \nTrakošćan Castle  \n  \n**Varaždin**  \nCity Museum"},"ce4d8147-795e-5a50-9c18-cf90561d29e5":{"name":"Rabat Archaeological Museum","description":"**Historical Description**  \n  \nWith 550 objects on display and thousands more in storage, the Rabat Archaeological Museum, founded in 1928, is one of the most prestigious national museums. It traces the history of Morocco from prehistoric times to the Islamic era. It is the culmination of a series of expansions and improvements that have made possible the inclusion of prehistoric, ancient and Islamic collections. A museum tour developed after renovations in 2003–04 highlights objects from excavations of the Almohad Tinmel Mosque and around the Koutoubia Mosque of Marrakesh.  \n  \n**Museum Collections**  \n  \nThe exhibits are displayed in three rooms, a patio and a garden.  \n  \n– On the ground floor, a chronological tour retraces the history of pre-Islamic Morocco: prehistoric civilisations, and then the Phoenician, Mauritanian and Roman eras, each represented by characteristic tools and objects.  \n  \n– Upstairs, the Islamic collections are organised by themes. Coins come from successive dynasties in Morocco. Ceramics display different techniques specific to the Islamic period, such *cuerda seca* (dry cord), stamping, metallic or polychrome glazes. Housing is represented both in its structural and decorative aspects: concrete work, but also murals, painted or engraved wood, capitals, trellises, stucco, and more.  \n  \n– The second themed section highlights antique marble statuary, with different artistic movements from Mauritania Tingitana (a Roman province). Prestigious works illustrate mythology and the history and public life of the Roman Empire: Venus, Theseus Slaying the Minotaur, Ephebe Pouring Drink, an imposing head of Juno, and busts of Juba II and Cato are among many pieces of inestimable scientific and aesthetic value.  \n  \n– The third section has a collection of inscriptions and rock carvings.  \n  \n*The Rabat Archaeological Museum is known today as the Museum of History and Civilisations.*","city":"Rabat","address":"23, rue Brihi  \nRabat, Morocco","phone":"+212 537 70 19 19"},"d4a98989-670f-57f0-806b-0923d3e7b276":{"name":"National Museum Oman","description":"The National Museum of the Sultanate of Oman, established by royal decree in 2013 and opened July 30, 2016, is the Sultanate's flagship cultural institution, showcasing the nation’s heritage from the earliest human settlement in the Oman Peninsula some two million years ago through to the present day. As a national institution with global outreach, the museum is dedicated to ensuring that Oman’s cultural heritage is understood and appreciated not only within the Sultanate, but also internationally. Further, it aims to provide opportunities for cultural expression, innovation, and the transfer of traditional skills and knowledge from one generation to the next.  \n  \nThe museum is located in the heart of Muscat in a purpose-designed building. The total area of the building is 13,700 square metres (147,000 sq ft), including 4,000 square metres (43,000 sq ft) allocated for 14 permanent galleries – The Land and the People Gallery, Maritime History Gallery, Arms and Armour Gallery, Aflaj Gallery, Currency Gallery, Prehistory and Ancient History Galleries, Splendours of Islam Gallery, Oman and the World Gallery, Intangible Heritage Gallery and Renaissance Gallery, among others. A further 400 square metres (4,300 sq ft) are allocated for temporary exhibitions.  \n  \nThe National Museum houses 5,466 objects and offers 43 digital immersive experiences, a fully equipped Learning Centre, conservation facilities, an ultra-high definition cinema, and discovery areas for children. It features an integrated infrastructure for special needs and is the first museum in the Middle East to adopt Arabic Braille script for the visually impaired. The museum contains a voluminous collection of prehistoric metallic artefacts. It also houses the region’s first open-plan museum storage concept, where visitors can learn about the various processes that artefacts go through before they are put on display.","city":"Muscat","address":"P.O.Box: (1105)  \n113 Muscat","website":"https://www.nm.gov.om/","email":"booking@nm.gov.om"},"d5cbde37-0645-5fff-928c-0190e87f0c5b":{"name":"City Museum","description":"The Brno City Museum was established in 1904. Since 1960, the museum has been seated in Špilberk Castle, the Baroque fortress known as the “Dungeon of the nations”. The permanent exhibition presents casemates that were part of the Baroque fortress system converted into the civil prison during the reign of Emperor Joseph II. On display are the collections of historic weapons, watches, glass, porcelain, furniture, fashion accessories, vedute, paintings and sculptures. The most important collection presents the prominent Late-Baroque Moravian sculptor, Ondřej Schweigl’s (1735–1812) life and work, and its association with Brno.","city":"Brno","address":"Špilberk 1  \n662 24 Brno  \nCzech Republic","website":"http://www.spilberk.cz","phone":"+420 542 123 611","fax":"+420 542 123 613","email":"muzeum.brno@spilberk.cz"},"d8cdb3eb-45fb-5ddf-a4cb-305d3f9d955b":{"name":"Istanbul Postal Museum","description":"The Istanbul Postal Museum is dedicated to the historical development of mail and telecommunication services in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey, exhibiting related equipment, instruments and postage stamps.  \n  \nThe museum is situated inside the Main Post Office building in Sirkeci quarter of Fatih district in Istanbul. The museum has a separate entrance and occupies four storeys in the western part of the building. It informs visitors about the country’s history of communication and telecommunication services, which officially began on 23 October 1840 with the foundation of the Ottoman Ministry of Post. Established on 6 May 2000 by the Turkish Post, the museum consists of four sections for mail, telegraphy, telephony and postage stamps. Photographs taken during the construction of the building are also displayed.","city":"Istanbul","address":"Hobyar Mahallesi,  \nBüyük Postane Caddesi, 25  \nFatih, Istanbul  \nTurkey","website":"www.ptt.gov.tr","phone":"+90 212 519 19 99","fax":"+90 212 512 09 49","email":"istav-muze@ptt.gov.tr"},"d9f6c12d-ca03-5d6e-b33c-c1a37daec1fa":{"name":"Glasgow Museums","description":"Although not the capital, Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland. It prides itself on its multi-cultural scene with a prosperous Muslim community representing the largest non-white Scottish group in the city and in Scotland. The Glasgow Museums collection is the biggest managed by any local authority in the United Kingdom and one of a handful of municipal collections that are recognized to have national importance. This service was founded in 1854 with the McLellan collection of European paintings, which was donated to the people of Glasgow by Archibald McLellan together with a building to house it. At present Glasgow manages thirteen public museums covering a wide range of subjects.  \n  \nGlasgow’s Islamic collections come from all over the world with objects from Africa, Spain, the Middle East and Central Asia. The oldest items date back to the 10th and 11th centuries. The earliest objects to enter the museums’ collections were donated in the 1870s. Though many of these are private donations, some were purchased by the museum service. The Islamic collections are mainly housed at The Burrell Collection, The St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art, Glasgow Museums Resource Centre, and Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.  \n  \nThe main strength of the Islamic collections lies in the large donation of Sir William Burrell and his wife, who gifted their massive and varied collection to Glasgow in 1944. It includes Iranian and Mughal Indian ceramics and carpets, Turkish and Uzbek textiles and embroideries, and Hispano-Moresque lustrewares. The other Islamic collections of Glasgow Museums include objects from Mughal India, Fatimid and Mamluk Egypt and Syria, the Ottoman Middle East, and 19th century Berber and Arab North Africa. In addition to all of the above, Glasgow Museums is interested in developing its contemporary Islamic collections by welcoming donations of modern Islamic arts and crafts, as well as strengthening the other areas within its Islamic collections.","city":"Glasgow","address":"The Burrell Collection  \nPollok Country Park  \n2060 Pollokshaws Road  \nG43 1AT  \nGlasgow, United Kingdom","website":"http://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/","phone":"+44 141 2872550","fax":"+44 141 2872597"},"dbffb8f8-6183-5d07-a911-b7386d37aaab":{"name":"Lázaro Galdiano Museum","description":"The Museo Lázaro Galdiano is a result of the generous spirit of collector D. Jose Lázaro, who left to the Spanish state under his will of 1947 his house, library of 20,000 volumes and 13,000 artworks.  \nThe museum was installed in the neo-Renaissance palace that was the Lázaro family home and opened in 1951. In 2005 it was restored, with a rearrangement of the collections that highlights the importance of Spanish art. The museum spaces evoke the places where the collection was enjoyed by the leading intellectuals of the time. Works by Goya, El Greco, Velázquez, Reynolds, Isenbrandt, Hubert van Eyck and Constable coexist with important collections of sculpture, ivories, enamels, bronzes and textiles. José Lázaro took special interest in Hispano-Muslim art and art of the first Spanish Renaissance.","city":"Madrid","address":"C/ Serrano, 122  \n28006 Madrid  \nSpain","website":"www.flg.es","phone":"+34 91 561 60 84","fax":"+34 91 561 77 93","email":"amparo.lopez@flg.es"},"de796842-f078-5eec-9f69-8b497cfb8d37":{"name":"Revoltella Civic Museum","description":"The Revoltella Museum is a modern art gallery whose origins lie in the institution founded in 1872 under the will of Baron Pasquale Revoltella (1795–1869). He was one of the most outstanding and authoritative figures of imperial Trieste and played a major role in both economic and political affairs. His main endeavours were concentrated on facilitating the opening of the Suez Canal. Trieste, a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918, was a major port, and Revoltella believed it to be crucial to developing the empire’s economy through maritime trade. In 1852 Revoltella entrusted Berlin architect Friedrich Hitzig to design his palace. Revoltella bequeathed his palace and his art collection to the city of Trieste. He also bestowed significant revenues on the museum, enabling a continuous increase of patrimony and accumulation of a considerable art collection.","city":"Trieste","address":"Via Diaz, 27  \n34123 Trieste  \nItaly","website":"http://www.museorevoltella.it/","phone":"+39 040 675 4350","fax":"+39 040 6754137","email":"revoltella@comune.trieste.it"},"defa425b-fe47-5a8e-bb82-33721be61de9":{"name":"Batha Museum","description":"Built in 1885, the original building was a courthouse and summer residence of the Alaouite sultan Moulay Hassan I before being renovated as a museum in 1915. The Batha Museum brings together archaeological collections, architectural elements and ethnographic objects relating to the city of Fez and its surrounding area. Since a reorganisation in 2006, the museum’s theme has revolved around spiritual life and the art of living.  \n  \nThrough large rooms overlooking the patio and garden, the tour begins with the city’s Islamic origins: manuscripts illuminated with gold leaf, liturgical wooden objects, planispheric brass astrolabes – and a rare example of a leather astrolabe dial. One section is dedicated to architectural elements. Wood is featured: friezes, panels, lintels and other corbels from different dynasties display Moroccan craftsmanship. Besides their artistic value, some pieces are historical and archaeological treasures, such as the beam dating from AD 877, the oldest wood in Islamic Morocco, evidence of the city of Kairouan’s artistic influences.  \n  \nZelliges (handmade terracotta tiles) are a distinctive feature of Moroccan-Andalusian Islamic architecture, with excellent collections here in the Batha Museum, with some dating back to the 14th century.  \n  \nAlso on exhibit are traditional arts from Fez, whose richness and variety are manifested in a collection of delicate embroidery in a single thread colour, and a variety of ornaments and wedding dresses for brides typically from the cities. There is also a rich collection of tin-based ceramics enamelled in a monochrome blue-grey.  \n  \nVisitors can discover rural crafts and museum-quality objects like jewellery and pottery outside the city of Fez.","city":"Fès","address":"Ksar El Batha  \nPlace du 11 janvier  \nFès, Morocco","phone":"+212 53 563 41 16"},"ee0a71f8-dc12-5d5d-b02a-4402969e8274":{"name":"Museum of Islamic Art","description":"The Museum of Islamic Arts of Kairouan is located in Raqqada, in a former presidential palace that was converted into a cultural and educational centre in 1986. It contains four rooms on the main floor and upstairs.  \n  \nOn the ground floor are:  \n– The ceramics room, which houses objects dating back to the Aghlabid, Fatimid and Hafsid eras. Those of the Aghlabid era are characterised by the use of metallic lustre glazes, archaic Kufic script and stylised zoomorphic and anthropomorphic images. This room displays a collection of blue Iznik ceramic tiles from Anatolia.  \n  \n– The hall of the Great Mosque, which houses religious objects such as friezes with floral and epigraphic motifs that form part of the roofing. There is also a reconstruction of the *mihrab* from the mosque and the door of the *maqsoura* (private enclosure).  \n  \n– The Lapidary Inscriptions Room, which is under development, will house flat, prismatic and column-barrel gravestones from the Kairouan Cemetery. It will also contain the inscription of the foundation of the city of Sabra al-Mansouriya, characterised by its writing style and its imposing size.  \n  \n\\- The Sabra al-Mansouriya Hall, expected to receive objects from the Sabra excavation, now contains the casting furnace found on the same site.  \n  \nUpstairs:  \nThe glass cases of the coin and jewellery room hold a large collection of coins dating back to the Aghlabid, Fatimid, Hafsid and Ottoman eras, showing their evolution over time. This room also contains glass objects from the Sabra site and the lantern from al-Mouiz.  \n  \nThe manuscript room contains a rich collection of parchment Qur’an folios from the library of the Great Mosque of Kairouan displaying the evolution of writing and ornamentation styles (3rd / 9th to the 13th / 19th century). The collection owes its unique reputation to the famous “blue parchment” of the 4th / 10th century. Enclosing these folios are leather bindings embossed with floral and geometric designs.  \n  \nAn exhibition such as this one helps us interpret the history of the city of Kairouan. The newer Sabra Hall, the Hall of Lapidary Inscriptions and the Hall of the Great Mosque of Kairouan will further our understanding.","city":"Kairouan","address":"Musée des arts islamiques  \nKairouan-Raqqada","phone":"+216 77 228126","fax":"+216 77 228469"},"f0c1b6b9-8198-5a97-9aea-8ebedfa90ca3":{"name":"Museum of Islamic Art","description":"At the order of Khedive Ismail Pasha in 1880 the collection of archaeological rarities from the Islamic era was begun in the mosque of Al- Hakim. The Council for the Preservation of Arab Antiquities, created in 1881 in association with the Ministry of Awqaf, supervised the House of Arab Antiquities, as it was then known, until 1930 when the museum was taken into the Ministry of Education.  \n  \nThe museum acquired only from mosques and public buildings in its first 20 years. Then it undertook its first excavation in 1910 in the vicinity of Doronka in Upper Egypt and a second excavation south of Cairo uncovering a section of the city of Fustat (first Islamic capital of Egypt).  \n  \nThe museum acquired many items through donations. King Fu’ad I gave a valuable collection of textiles, scales and seals as did King Farouk, Amir Muhammad Ali and Amir Yusuf Kamal. Amir Kamal al-Din Hussein, Yakub Artin Pasha and Ali Ibrahim Pasha also donated complete collections.  \n  \nThe collections, amounting to 7082 artefacts, were transferred to their current building, when the present museum was inaugurated in December 1903. In 1952, the name of the museum was changed to the ‘Museum of Islamic Art’ to reflect the scope of the collection: objects produced in the Islamic world and dating from the beginning of the Islamic era (AD 7th century) to the end of the AD 19th century. The number of recorded objects has now reached 103,000.  \n  \nThe collections include enamelled glass lamps, Egyptian ceramics and a rare collection of filigree waterpot filters of unpainted earthenware renowned for their lacework designs. There are also collections of woodwork, textiles and stones with inscriptions, while the collection of carpets is considered to be one of the greatest of its kind. Collections of scientific instruments display the extent to which Islamic civilisation has contributed to knowledge in many different fields. There is also an extraordinary collection of seals, weights, measures, gold, silver and copper coins.  \n  \nThe Museum of Islamic Art, having one of the most comprehensive and complete Islamic art collections in the world continues to develop and expand its collections and to modernise the building with its 25 halls, facilities and archaeological garden.","city":"Cairo","website":"https://www.miaegypt.org/","phone":"+20 2 2390 1520"},"f446146a-791c-5ab5-a762-4bd0263541be":{"name":"Moravian Gallery","description":"The Moravian Gallery in Brno, the second largest art museum in the Czech Republic, is exceptional for the wide range of artistic disciplines it covers. It is the only institution in the country collecting visual art that is concerned with painting, drawing, graphic art and sculpture – from the past and the present – as well as photography, applied art and design.  \n  \nFounded in Brno in 1961 by amalgamating the Museum of Applied Arts and the Picture Gallery of the Moravian Museum, it is housed in three centrally located and architecturally impressive buildings. The Moravian Gallery in Brno sets out to present visual culture from within the Czech Republic in a European context, through both permanent and temporary exhibitions. To achieve its goals it works together with a number of institutions at home and abroad and participates in international projects. At a global level the most renowned event organised by the Moravian Gallery in Brno is the International Biennale of Graphic Design, which has been taking place here since 1963.  \n  \nThe temporary displays and permanent exhibitions are enriched by an accompanying programme of lectures, guided tours, workshops, concerts and performances created to suit the whole spectrum of visitors. Special attention is paid to children, whether visiting individually or in school groups.  \n  \nA testimonial to the museum's accessibility is a collection of art for the visually impaired and related exhibition projects such as Possible Messages and Invisible Causes.","city":"Brno","address":"Husova 18,  \nCZ-662 00 Brno  \nCzech Republic","website":"http://www.moravska-galerie.cz","phone":"+420 532 169 111; 532 169 130","email":"info@moravska-galerie.cz"},"f533d81d-c3e7-57c1-955a-e9aac47d7bb3":{"name":"Hungarian National Gallery","description":"The Hungarian National Gallery (HNG) is the largest public collection documenting and presenting the rise and development of fine arts in Hungary. It has operated as an independent institution since 1957 moving to its present location, the former Royal Palace of Buda, in 1975.  \n  \nIn 1957 a new museum, the Hungarian National Gallery, was created for the collection and display of specifically Hungarian art. The basis of its collection was the New Hungarian Picture Gallery at the Budapest Museum of Fine Arts, and the Hungarian material belonging to that museum’s collections of modern sculpture, medals, and prints and drawings. The holdings of the new institution included approximately 6,000 paintings, 2,100 sculptures, 3,100 medals, 11,000 drawings and 5,000 prints. The HNG opened in Budapest on 5 October 1957, in a building that formerly housed the Supreme Court.  \n  \nIn 1975 the HNG moved to Buda Palace, into buildings B, C and D, which had been specially refurbished. In October of that year it opened its exhibitions in a provisional form. Its holdings were augmented with items from the Department of Old Hungarian Art at the Budapest Museum of Fine Arts, making it possible to show the entire history of art in Hungary, with works from the 11th century to the present.  \n  \nOver subsequent years other permanent exhibitions have been added: Panel Paintings and Wooden Sculptures from the Mediaeval Period and Baroque Art in Hungary in 1979; Late Gothic Winged Altarpieces opened in the former throne-room of the palace in 1982; and Mediaeval and Renaissance Stone Carvings opened in 1985.  \n  \nInside the museum, on the ground floor of Building C, the crypt of the Habsburg palatines (viceroys) was opened to the public in 1989, and in 2005, the HNG’s exhibition spaces were further augmented by the acquisition of Building A of Buda Castle.","city":"Budapest","address":"Szent György tér 2  \nH-1014 Budapest  \nHungary  \n  \nPOSTAL ADDRESS:  \nH-1250 Budapest  \nPO Box 31  \nHungary","website":"http://www.mng.hu","phone":"+36 1 375 8858","fax":"+36 1 375 8898","email":"mng@mng.hu"},"f5c11bd8-33ca-5552-a5d9-8437afd6ee27":{"name":"The Lebanese University","description":"The Lebanese University is the only public institution for higher learning in Lebanon. The university has 17 faculties across Lebanon and serves various cultural, religious and social groups of students and teachers.  \n  \nThe independent university enjoys administrative, academic and financial freedom. Among its educational goals are creating a unique mix of cultures and providing the basic and essential education to allow students to enter various professions.  \n  \nIn spite of the crisis in the region that has existed since 1975, leaving wounds and tragedies, the Lebanese University has remained the national home of science. Rivalling the most prestigious universities in Lebanon and abroad, and leading the process of human development that spread all over the country, its graduates became ambassadors of Lebanon in all the corners of the earth.  \n  \nOur university respects the national demand for academic freedom, which has become a right of scholars and specialists, based on laws and international conventions and regional organisations and sometimes more, applying the important rules of human rights: the right of learning and seeking knowledge with higher education and participation in international projects to develop academic programmes and exchange of research.The university has maintained the quality of higher education, although we seek more contact with the spirit of this modern age and its promising accomplishments by increasing relations and agreements with other universities and institutions all over the world. In spite of the political pressures on the people of the university and attempts to split them into factions, the majority of them have remained faithful to the spirit of the national organisation and the struggles of the early pioneers who insisted on building the edifice of national higher education, in the framework of the values of freedom and justice.","city":"Beirut","address":"Central Administration, Museum, Beirut  \n  \nPostal address: P.O. Box 6573/14 Badaro, Museum  \nBeirut  \nLebanon","website":"http://www.ul.edu.lb/","phone":"+961 1 612830; 1 612831","email":"ibady@ul.edu.lb"},"f6a3053d-d710-547e-be54-96097d448f7a":{"name":"National Museum of Damascus","description":"The National Museum in Damascus was established under the supervision of the Ministry of Education in 1919. The original core of this museum's contents was initially kept at the Madrasa al-'Adiliya. The collection gradually increased and the discovery of the Umayyad palace of Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi in the Syrian desert in 1936 further spurred into action plans for a newer and bigger museum. A building located next to Al-Takiyya al-Sulaymaniya was chosen for the establishment of the National Museum of Damascus.  \n  \nQasr Al-Hayr Al-Gharbi added new emphasis to the importance of devoting more attention to the Islamic period and the Directors of Antiquities decided to incorporate these palatial finds into the National Museum of Damascus. After much hard work and technical expertise, the front façade of the Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi was transposed and carefully reconstructed as the National Museum's main entrance. The side halls and the second floor were designated for the most important artistic finds of this early Islamic palace. The completion of the display took several years and the official opening was celebrated in 1950.  \n  \nIn 1953 a three-storey wing was added to house and display ancient oriental antiquities, the Islamic period, modern Syrian art, and temporary exhibitions.  \n  \nOne of the more recent extensions included three double halls for the Islamic period, a new lecture hall and a library. The lecture hall was furnished as a 19th-century Damascene reception hall, a masterpiece of late decoration and ornamentation in its own right. The opening of this extension took place in 1963.  \n  \nIn 1974 there were further additions, this time devoted to the Palaeolithic period. And lastly, in 2004, the temporary exhibition wing was transformed into a permanent collection of Neolithic antiquities.  \n  \nAt present, the National Museum of Damascus consists of the following sections:  \n  \n1\\. Palaeolithic.  \n2\\. Neolithic.  \n3\\. Ancient Syrian Oriental.  \n4\\. Classical.  \n5\\. Islamic.  \n6\\. Modern Arts.","city":"Damascus","address":"Qasr el-Heir Street  \nDamascus, Syria","phone":"+963 11 2234331","fax":"+963 11 2247983","email":"sam.orient@mail.sy"},"f72fb94f-1822-5cff-9f41-8593a1edb4e8":{"name":"Weilheim City Museum","description":"The museum founded in October 1882 by the citizen Benedikt Höck, and focusing on Weilheim's cultural history, has been located since 1966 in ten rooms on three floors of the Old Town Hall, which is directly beside the urban parish church. The detached building, used for administration until 1936, was built in 1538, when the city celebrated the 300th jubilee of its founding, and was rebuilt in 1788–91 (with noble facades by Franz Joseph Bader from nearby Wessobrunn). Since 1977 there has been a special room for exhibitions in the former public bakery hall on the ground floor on the building's western side.  \n  \nThe collection of nearly 500 objects places particular emphasis on sculpture since the Middle Ages, especially from the Weilheim School *c*. 1600, painting and applied art since the late Gothic era, furniture (for example, an impressive cupboard by Clement Betle, 1587), a model of the city from 1811, and one of the oldest nativity cribs in Bavaria (1721) consisting of 62 figures which are painted on carved panels. Also interesting are two Bavarian rustic sleeping-rooms from *c*.1782–1820 and 1824.","city":"Weilheim","address":"Marienplatz, 1  \nD-82362 Weilheim i.OB","website":"http://www.weilheim.de/index.asp?tid=2&cid=11373&nid=96","phone":"+49 881 682600","fax":"+49 881 682299","email":"stadtmuseum@weilheim.de"},"fae81dae-0250-52ec-acc1-171da28b9eef":{"name":"Borghese Gallery","description":"The Casino Borghese ­– today the Borghese Museum and Gallery – was commissioned from Flaminio Ponzio by Pope Paolo V's nephew, Cardinal Scipione Caffarelli Borghese, who wanted a suburban villa to house his art collections. It was completed after Ponzio's death by Giovanni Vasanzio in 1613–15.  \n  \nCasino Borghese lies inside a great park and the garden is divided into three precincts divided by a series of spaces and buildings: the Casino, three Secret Gardens, the Aviary, the Meridiana Pavilion.  \n  \nCardinal Borghese's antique collection was augmented by archaeological excavations on the family property and by acquisitions such as the collections of Ceoli and Tommaso e Giovan Battista Della Porta.  \n  \nThe cardinal was uninterested in medieval art, but was very interested in renaissance and contemporary art. He used his powerful position to increase his collection by any means, including confiscation. He imprisoned Domenichino to obtain his *La Caccia di* *Diana* and ordered the secret removal to Rome of Raphael's *Deposition* from the Baglioni Chapel in Perugia.  \n  \nScipione commissioned works from the most important contemporary artists: Bernini, Caravaggio, Guido Reni, Guercino, Lanfranco, Domenichino, Algardi, Cavalier d'Arpino, Rubens, Lavinia Fontana, Nicolas Cordier and Antonio Susini. He also bought many paintings from the Ferrara School. With Scipione the renaissance concept of the aristocratic patron was transformed into the 'modern' collector.  \n  \nAfter the marriage of Paolo Borghese and Olimpia Aldobrandini (1682) part of the Aldobrandini inheritance was incorporated in the Borghese collection.  \n  \nBetween 1770 and 1793 Marcantonio IV Borghese renewed the villa in neoclassical style. His son Camillo married Pauline Bonaparte and was persuaded by his brother-in-law, Napoleon, to 'sell' him (1807) a considerable part of the archaeological collection, which now is in the Louvre; fortunately Camillo also bought many works such as Correggio's *Danae* (1827) and Guercino's *Prodigal Son* and commissioned from Canova (1805–8) a sculpture of Pauline as *Venus Victrix*, a neoclassical masterpiece. Gaps caused by the 'sale' were filled with new finds from recent excavations and works from various Borghese residences.  \n  \nIn 1902 the Casino Borghese and its collection were acquired by Italian Government.  \n  \nAmong the great pieces in the collection are: Titian's *Sacred and Profane Love*; marble sculptures by Bernini including *Apollo and Daphne*, *Pluto and Proserpina*, *David*, *Aeneas and Anchises*; paintings by Caravaggio including *Boy with a Basket of Fruit*, *Madonna of the Palafrenieri* and *David with the Head of Goliath*; and many works by Raphael, Rubens, Pinturicchio, Perugino, Titian, Domenichino, Carracci and many others.","city":"Rome","address":"Piazzale Scipione Borghese, 5  \nI - 00197 Rome","website":"http://galleriaborghese.beniculturali.it/it","phone":"+39 06 8413979","fax":"+39 06 8840756"},"fea32901-ad4a-5972-8043-fd04f11ab0ee":{"name":"Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia","description":"Interest in Islamic art has grown enormously in recent years. Reflecting this awareness, in December 1998 Malaysia became home to Southeast Asia’s largest museum of Islamic art. The building occupies 30,000 square metres, situated amid the leafy surroundings of central Kuala Lumpur’s Lake Gardens.  \n  \nThe Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia houses more than ten thousand artefacts, as well as an exceptional library of Islamic art books. The art objects on display range from the tiniest pieces of jewellery to one of the world’s largest scale models of the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca. The aim is to create a collection that is truly representative of the Islamic world. Instead of concentrating on works from the heartlands of Persia and the Middle East, IAMM also puts the emphasis on Asia. China and Southeast Asia are especially well represented. The third component of the Malaysian melting pot is India, which is also given special status. India, China and the Malay World are in an exceptional category. Other parts of the collection are displayed according to type rather than geographical origins in the museum’s 12 galleries.  \n  \nIranian tile workers transformed the iwan-style entrance into a ceramic tapestry that frames a welcoming verse from the Qur’an. On the roof, these artisans turned the dome-construction traditions of Central Asia into the building’s crowning glory. The turquoise-coloured domes are now a landmark on the Kuala Lumpur skyline.  \n  \nInside the building, the angularity of 21st century design is contrasted with the soft, rounded forms of the five domes that dominate the museum’s interior. Laboured over by craftsmen from Uzbekistan, these imposing features help form an ambience that is both airy and harmony. The seamless continuity of light and space is maintained throughout the galleries and into other areas of the museum, such as the library and the restaurant.","city":"Kuala Lumpur","address":"Jalan Lembah Perdana  \n50480 Kuala Lumpur  \nMalaysia","website":"http://www.iamm.org.my","phone":"+603 20927070; +603 22742020","fax":"+603 22740529","email":"info@iamm.org.my"}}