Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.

His Highness the Aga Khan arrived in Malaysia today for the start of his visit to the Far East. In the country’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, he will officially inaugurate the exhibition titled Treasures of the Aga Khan Museum: Architecture in Islamic Arts at the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia.

TORONTO. Michael Brand, the former J. Paul Getty Museum director who stepped down at the Los Angeles institution earlier this year, has been appointed to a consultancy post at the Aga Khan Development Network, a global Islamic charitable foundation that is currently building an Aga Khan Museum in Toronto. According to sources with knowledge of the hire, the position places Brand — an expert in Asian art — in line to assume the directorship of the Islamic art and culture museum when it opens in a Fumihiko Maki-designed building in 2013.

TORONTO. Michael Brand, the former J. Paul Getty Museum director who stepped down at the Los Angeles institution earlier this year, has been appointed to a consultancy post at the Aga Khan Development Network.

The position places Brand — an expert in Asian art — in line to assume the directorship of the Islamic art and culture museum when it opens in a Fumihiko Maki-designed building in 2013.

A simple, exquisite jewel

The coming of the Aga Khan Islamic Art Museum and an Ismaili Centre in Toronto is a fitting tribute not just to this great city but to Canada — beacon of hope to the world.

Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of the Ismaili Muslims has committed to build a poject in Toronto that will showcase the progressive side of Islamic culture to the people.The centre is supposed to built at Eglinton Avenue and Wynford Drive, a part of the city best known for its dreary anonymity.

Mumbai based architect Charles Correa, has been roped in to design the complex.

The intention, is to show the "plurality of Islam," something which North Americans could always be reminded of, said the Aga Khan.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper last week conferred honorary citizenship on the Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of the Shia Ismaili Muslim community.

The Aga Khan was in the city last week to mark the groundbreaking for the first museum of Islamic art and culture in North America, an Ismaili centre and park.

There are more than 30,000 Ismailis in Toronto alone.

Read the speech here:
http://ismaili.net/heritage/node/29975

Toronto, May 29 (PTI) Canada has bestowed honorary citizenship upon the Aga Khan, spiritual leader of around 20 million Muslims worldwide.

The Aga Khan was in Toronto to launch a USD 285-million cultural centre for Ismaili Muslims and the Aga Khan Museum for Islamic Art and Culture.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper conferred the honours on the spiritual leader, saying that the centre and museum will represent the country's pluralism and cultural diversity.

The Aga Khan is the spiritual leader of Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims, a branch of Shia Islam.

Of all the gifts ever given to Toronto, none is more beautiful than the Aga Khan’s.

The spiritual leader of the Ismaili Muslims came to town Friday to break ground on a remarkable project that will include a museum of Islamic art and an Ismaili Centre, both set in an exquisite seven-hectare park. Created by some of the world’s most sought-after designers, the complex and its contents will bring new depth to Toronto’s artistic life and its vaunted multiculturalism.