A Visual History of the Hajj from the Khalili Collections

Friday 6 November 0.00 – 0.00 Monday 30 November

Tintagel House 92 Albert Embankment London SE1 7TY

A UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, Professor Sir David Khalili, has been a champion of interfaith understanding and intercultural harmony and appreciation. As an Iranian Jew who has assembled the world’s largest collection of Islamic Art and is knighted by two Popes, he has been referred to by HM Government as “the embodiment of interfaith harmony”.

Considered the world’s leading cultural philanthropist, Sir David has assembled eight unique art collections, each considered the greatest of its kind and together representing multiple faith traditions. They include the world’s most comprehensive collection of Islamic art and artefacts.  He is committed to sharing it with the world through extensive scholarship and high-quality digitisation.  By assembling, conserving and sharing these sacred objects, Sir David has enabled people all over the world to access and enjoy the cultural history and creative mastery of this great tradition and civilization.

In partnership with Google Arts & Culture, the Khalili Collections are proud to present A Visual History of the Hajj, a curated experience of 1400 years of Islamic pilgrimage, for audiences of all over the world to explore, based in its Hajj and The Arts of Pilgrimage collection, which containing over 4000 objects including more than 300 textiles and many other related objects associated with the two most holiest places in Islam: Mecca and Medina.

'A Visual History of the Hajj' is open to all and free of charge, at:  https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/a-visual-history-of-the-hajj/BQIiauzrf6WAJQ

Explore other online exhibitions and over 1,000 sacred objects from The Khalili Collections in Google Arts & Culture: https://artsandculture.google.com/search?q=khalili

This initiative and Sir David's tireless efforts are driven by a deep-seated conviction that cultural philanthropy and interfaith harmony have the power to unite a broken world as one global family.

“I have spent 50 years of my life collecting, conserving, researching, exhibiting, and publishing the art of a religion that -as a Jew- is not my own. But I have always believed the Jews and Muslims are cousins, and I truly consider my efforts in this field to be the contribution of one member of the family to another. This is my message of peace to the world.”

Professor Sir Nasser David Khalili