SAN DIEGO MUSEUM OF ART
Special Private Curatorial Tour of “Wonders of Creation” with Dr. Ladan Akbarnia, Harvard PhD 2007
Wonders of Creation: Art, Science, and Innovation in the Islamic World
ON VIEW THROUGH JANUARY 5, 2025
Don't miss this groundbreaking PST ART exhibition. Wonders of Creation: Art, Science, and Innovation in the Islamic World showcases more than 200 works spanning 13 centuries that invite visitors to explore the intersections of art and science, the marvels of the heavens and earth, and the crafts and customs of humanity. See ancient tools and treasures, ornate jewelry, lavishly illustrated manuscripts, and large-scale works of contemporary art. Step into a world of wonder, as defined by a celebrated medieval Islamic text, celebrating the ingenuity, craftsmanship, and enduring legacy of Islamic scientific and cultural heritage.
About Dr. Akbarnia:
Dr. Ladan Akbarnia (PhD, Harvard University) is Curator of South Asian and Islamic Art at The San Diego Museum of Art (2019–present). A specialist in Islamic visual culture, her research, exhibitions, and publications address cross-cultural transmissions in Iran, Central Asia, and South Asia; Sufism; Persianate drawings; contemporary art; and methodologies of museum display. Her current exhibition, Wonders of Creation: Art, Science, and Innovation in the Islamic World, on view at SDMA until 5 January 2025 and traveling to the McMullen Museum of Art from 1 February–1 June 2025, was funded generously by the Getty Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, with support from many other organizations and donors. Since joining SDMA in 2019, she has organized several exhibitions and displays, including India: Paintings from the San Diego Museum of Art (Speed Museum of Art, Louisville, 2024 and CentroCentro, Madrid, 2023); A Dogon Figure from Mali: Bridge to the Spirit World (2021), co-curated with Dr. Denise Rogers; Lisa Ross: Elegy to a Uyghur Homeland (2022); and ongoing rotating displays of works from the Edwin Binney 3rd Collection (Pearls from the Ocean of Contentment, 2021–present). Previously, she was Assistant Keeper & Curator of Islamic Collections and a lead curator for the Albukhary Foundation Gallery of the Islamic World at The British Museum (2010–19); Hagop Kevorkian Associate Curator of Islamic Art at the Brooklyn Museum (2007–10), where she organized a reinstallation of the Islamic collection and Light of the Sufis: The Mystical Arts of Islam (2009–10); and Executive Director of the Iran Heritage Foundation in London (2009–10). She also serves as a Commissioner of Arts and Culture for San Diego County (2023–present).
Date: Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Where: San Diego Museum of Art - 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA
Time: P.M. - 3:00 P.M. - 5:00 P.M.
Cost: $10.00 - HCSD Members, $15.00 - Non-HCSD Members. Purchase Tickets throught the link below,
This event is limited to 20 people. Members will be given preference.
If you would like, you can join us after the tour for dinner at a location in Balboa Park to be determined.