Sacred Spaces and Secular Places

Most of the larger collections of Islamic art have been, or still are, undergoing reorganization. New galleries have been established. Museums and galleries have increasingly become important forums for public interest in Muslim cultures and do touch on the intersection of museums as secular places and objects of sacred spaces. The specific challenges of globally changing societies and the growing presence of Muslims in many countries of Europe and northern America assign collections of Islamic art with new duties and responsibilities. Visitors come to the museum to find answers to today’s questions.

They ask new questions on culture and religion. In spite of that, there has been little discussion on content, categories of order, and the new role of these museums. Which role do religious objects in these museums play. The Museum for Islamic Art Berlin is one of the major collections of its kind in the world and the only one in the German-speaking countries. As the oldest Islamic art museum in the West the museum is an internationally renowned research center and archive of the heritages of the Middle East. Each year up to a million visitors experience the rich cultural legacy of the Muslim world. We care for our past and for our common future. The museum has won several awards for its programs on cultural education, migration, heritage preservation and training-cooperation with the Arab world.