Journey of faith
Putting on the West’s first big exhibition about the haj has been a challenge
IN JUNE 2009 Neil MacGregor, the director of the British Museum (BM), flew to Saudi Arabia, his first visit to the heart of the Islamic world. He wanted the blessing of the Saudi royal family.
Mr MacGregor and Venetia Porter, the BM's keeper of Islamic art, spoke to the chairman of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities, Prince Sultan bin Salman (known locally as the “astronaut prince” for being the only Saudi to have travelled in space). They also met Princess Adila bint Abdullah, a daughter of the king and one of the few princesses with a public role in Saudi Arabia, and her husband, Prince Faisal bin Abdullah, the new minister of education. At each meeting they outlined in detail the BM's ambition: to put on the West's first big show about the haj, the annual holy pilgrimage to Mecca.
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Journey of faith”
Culture January 14th 2012
From the January 14th 2012 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Culture
From Zidane to Vinícius: the reinvention of Real Madrid
The galácticos have become the pragmáticos
Why did Hollywood not want to fund “Megalopolis” and “Horizon”?
Francis Ford Coppola and Kevin Costner paid for their passion projects
Meet the man causing cracks in the antiquities trade
Matthew Bogdanos employs unorthodox tactics to repatriate stolen art and antiquities